Burin Burin! Magical Watch
by Solunars
Summary: Some time has passed since the defeat of the Yoma thanks to Mai Suzuki and her friends. However, the peace is interrupted by a group of evil yokai seeking a mysterious book in hopes of a malicious agenda, alongside the awakening of several ancient yokai. It's up to Mai and friends to learn from the past to protect the present and future!
1. Tale 1: Skies of Vermilion

Before we begin, there's some notes to go over as per usual.

1\. This is a sequel to " _Reflections of the Magical Watch_ ". Thus, there will be a LOT of spoilers for the main story.

2\. Since this is sequel story, it takes place in Mai's continuity, which is pretty different from the official games, anime, and manga. Take it with a grain of salt.

3\. Unlike the main story, this one has a heavier focus on OCs since we got more original yokai now being center stage. However, canon yokai will not be fully excluded either.

4\. This is a work of fiction first and foremost. Resemblances to real people and events are merely by coincidence.

 **Tale 1: Skies of Vermilion, the Great USA!**

A week had passed since the defeat of the yoma once and for all, the bridge between both the human and yokai worlds being much more clearer and accessible. Both races lived in harmony as several yomakai were restored in the reopening of both gates.

This era of peace was mostly thanks to the efforts of one girl and her friends, both of the human and supernatural varieties. With a magical watch, this girl connected with the hearts of yokai to fend off the evil yoma from destroying the human world.

Things began in a dressing room, where three girls were finishing up their looks for the important occasion. From how they were dressed and fairly tense looking, it seemed they were attending something important.

"Alright, I think we're ready for this…" A girl with long dark hair and glasses began, nodding her head as she looked at the other girls. "Are you guys ready?"

Another girl, having wild violet hair and a more supernatural edge looked at the long haired girl. "Yeah just give me a moment, I wanna look cute for once dangit!"

Two cat yokai, one a pastel yellow with teal flames on her tail and periwinkle inner ears, the other pink with azure tail flames with hot pink inner ears creaked open the door to check on the girls. They were also very well dressed for the occasion, even doing up their fur slightly.

"Everyone are you ready to go?" The yellow cat began, looking around. "We're wrapping up on Great King Enma's re-enthronement so you guys should best be ready to go soon."

"Oh yeah don't worry, we're ready!" The more wild girl said, joined by the one with long dark hair. The third one, a girl with fluffy blonde hair and green eyes awkwardly joined the other two. It was clear by her constant hand fidgeting and overall quietness she was beyond nervous about all this.

"Alright looks like we're all ready to go so let's get a move on!" The pink cat said, leading the group of girls down a hall to meet up with a handful of other yokai who were also waiting. Through a small peek beyond the door, the grand hall of the palace was absolutely packed with yokai of all shapes, sizes, ranks, and tribes.

Standing at the end of the hall on the elaborately decorated throne was an equally as decorated yokai. He had reddish skin and blond hair, mostly obstructed by a crown he had probably only worn twice in his life, alongside the crazy elaborate outfit.

"My subjects, it's truly a miracle that I've not only returned to bring order, but the human and yokai worlds now join in hand in hand," The regal yokai spoke, giving his speech. "Even as Great King Enma, I did not accomplish this harmonious unity alone…"

Now was the moment these doors would soon open. All the girls got arranged in line, standing next to a yokai as Great King Enma was about to continue his speech.

"There are three brave, kind souls who've helped make this a reality," Great King Enma continued to speak, gesturing to the door. "The first one I would like to introduce is Shinju Mori, one of the Priestesses of the Grand Moon that serves under Queen Kaguya. Accompanying her was fellow loyal servant of Kaguya, Fushigi Snow Rabby."

The doors opened and walking down the halls was the dark haired girl, Shinju, accompanied by an albino rabbit yokai, Snow Rabby. The two gracefully walked down, stopping and kneeling before the king. The young king gave a hand motion and the duo rose up.

"Your majesty, it's with my upper most honor to have lent my hands to this unity and I'll continue to serve with the moon's guidance!" Shinju gave a small speech, before she stepped aside so Great King Enma could carry on with his speech.

"Next is one of the great princesses, Princess Suseri. She had lived in the human world for most of her life, adapting to their ways and spreading it's knowledge with her companion, Isamashi Fuyunyan Ace, under the name Kokoro Yukimura," Great King Enma kept on going with the introductions, as the doors opened once more

With a grand entrance, the wild yet refined girl, Suseri, walked down with her floating blue cat companion, Fuyunyan Ace accompanying her. Like Shinju before her, Suseri also kneeled before Great King Enma before being allowed to rise up once more.

"It's an absolute honor to be here today, your majesty," Suseri began, trying to sound much more formal than usual. "I'll keep making sure the exchange between humans and yokai is never lost!"

With Suseri stepping aside to join up with Shinju, there was one last member of the three girls. Pressure felt truly real at this point…

"Finally, there is one last brave soul who made this all possible. With the guidance from Citrine Magic Academy graduate Fushigi Nyanmajo and Mebinanyan's heir Pretty Sailornyan, this one moved yokai without resorting to a violent tactic. She is none other than Mai Suzuki!" Great King Enma announced, the grand doors opening a third and final time.

Fear was truly real in the blonde's mind, but she swallowed her fears and kept a strong head in all this. She slowly walked out and down the halls, her two feline friends accompanying her. The walk down the hall felt like an eternity, but soon she found herself kneeling before the great king, before being motioned to rise up again.

"Your majesty," Mai began, trying to keep a steady tone without stumbling and sounding overly nervous. "I-It's with great honor to have helped brought great peace to both humans and yokai at long last, and I'll continue to help bring this peace for one and all!"

It was a major relief off the blonde to finally get that speech out. Hopefully nobody noticed her stuttering. She was certainly going to take a long nap as soon as she got home…

Though from that day forth, the girls would be recognized for their brave efforts by humans, by yokai, by all.

The peace kept being undisturbed, even as the days became weeks, and the weeks became months. Seven months have since passed since the ceremony, the freezing blanket of winter taking it's place as the new year had settled in.

Today, however, would be the start of a new chapter.

It was a brisk afternoon, a new year had arisen with the lightly falling snow around Sakura New Town. The usual trio of girls were all waiting around the international airport, Mai having a few suitcases next to her.

"Ah geez, I dunno if I can take seeing ya off again…" Kokoro stated, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah it only feels like recently that we've been able to all relax," Shinju added in with a bit of a shrug. "I mean, back in spring was such a crazy whirlwind of things."

"Heh, it doesn't feel that long ago, actually," Mai gently laughed off. "It's hard to believe it's almost been a year and I'll be sixteen in a month!"

Mai looked off a bit. "But...I did promise I would visit my grandparents in St. Peanutsburg this year...I know I'll be half way across the world but you guys won't be too far from me in spirit!"

"That's true just...remember about time zones," Shinju added in. "I'm easily woken up by my phone sometimes…"

"Oh yeah, speaking of time zones, I know jetlag is gonna be an issue for ya," Kokoro began, lifting up one of her arms. "Which is why I requested a fellow yokai of the pretty tribe to help you out."

The alternative punk girl snapped her fingers and by her side was a white tapir like yokai. "Introduce yourself now, yeah?"

"Why hello dear, I'm Haku of the Pretty Tribe," Haku introduced herself. "Princess Suseri here requested me to accompany you to make sure you have good dreams and zero jet lag!"

"Hello, I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm happy to meet you Haku!" Mai greeted, kneeling down a little to shake the hand or rather trunk or the yokai.

"I wish I had more to say other than well, have a safe flight," Shinju stated, the blonde getting her suitcases.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll message you two once I land!" Mai said goodbye to her two friends, trying her best to navigate the airport. It was her first time flying alone, but she seemed to understand it for the most part.

Well, alone was a bit of a stretch. She had not only Haku with her, but her loyal companions Nyanmajo and Sailornyan. They were just...getting a headstart on napping on top of Mai's belongings much to her dismay.

A long, long, long fight had passed without any mishaps or bumps. It was mostly just a lot of sleeping, only waking up for a bit for an inflight meal. Though, Haku was there once Mai got off to be sure she wasn't too disoriented.

"I'll stay here to help the other passengers, you can call me any time with the jewel I gave you!" Haku waved goodbye, Mai waving back goodbye as she made her way outwards.

Though, while Mai wasn't completely tired, she was at least very confused about the time. Seems that the sun was setting as Mai made her way out to find where her grandma had said to meet up.

"Mai, goodness it's been so long!" A gentle, much older woman greeted the blonde. Mai instantly perked up.

"Grandma!" Mai greeted, hugging her grandma. "It's been quite sometime, how have things been?"

"Quite peaceful I'll say. Aside from the child across who's said to have a sixth sense, everything's been as normal as they can possibly be," Mai's grandma filled in, making the group tilt their heads slightly as they walked to the car.

"S-Sixth sense? W-What do you mean by that?" Nyanmajo asked, Mai's grandma nodding her head as she started the car once everyone was in.

"He's the child of my neighbor across the street, Fuyuko Hikage. I think he might actually be as old as you Mai at this point, goodness," Mai's grandma exposited some. "But he's a fairly shy little thing, seeing strange things in his dreams that often end up coming true..."

"Huh that's pretty interesting, know anything else?" Sailornyan asked, the old woman shaking her head slightly as they came to a red light.

"No not really, as many conversations I've had with Fuyuko, I could never catch that boy's name," Mai's grandmother started with a sigh. "Then again, could be my old age catching up. What about you, Mai dear?"

"Well…" Mai began rubbing the back of her head. Nyanmajo gave a light sigh as she decided to speak up for the blonde teen.

"It's...it's a long, long story…" Nyanmajo filled in, begining to go on as brief of a summary as she could possibly do of Mai's adventures seven months ago.

As the four drove out of the airport and more into the main town, the golden hour lighting settled in on the sights. Despite St. Peanutsburg being a bit more quaint than Sakura New Town, it still felt big and grand. Humans and yokai seemed to get along harmoniously, everything from the smaller and cuter ones, to the larger ones, to even...the rather cruder ones Mai tried to stay away from. It all was quite a harmonious sight to see on the road home.

On the road home, something caught her eye. A billboard advertisement for the St. Peanutsburg Library. Headlining was an exhibit on never before seen versions of ancient literature and even some artwork from various regions in asia, mainly advertising things from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Perhaps it might be something Mai should look into...

Unknost to anyone, in the backwoods near St. Peanutsburg, a shadowy figure lurked. It took the form of a normal fox, but with ash black fur and bright pink irises accented with gold. The fox looked up at the street sign for the library's exhibit.

"A showcase of various ancient asian literature, huh?" The fox spoke to itself, a sinister feminine voice being her tone. "Well, perhaps that book will be in the collection on display!"

The fox gave a small laugh, before with a puff of fuschia smoke seamlessly transformed into a small raven to fly off into the american town.

Night had come as things began to settle down, Mai fast asleep with rather quick adjustments to the timezone shifts thanks to Haku. Though within the blonde's sleep, something kept speaking to the back of her unconscious mind…

Now that both worlds have been in unity for some time...Evil wishes to take over once more.

You are the one who wields the balance...between light and dark...just remember…

...heroes

Four…

Three realms…

Two…

One book...One fate for all…

The answers lie in marks of the past...

The following morning Mai woke up, feeling a bit heavy headed but overall normal. She rubbed her forehead a bit, hoping it would clear up her foggy mind.

However, as the morning progressed something just wouldn't leave Mai's head, she was ready to go in a coat and all as she headed to the door.

"I'm gonna run over to the library, call me if you need anything alright?" Mai waved out to her grandma, the elder nodding her head.

"You take care now, you and your feline friends too!" Mai's grandma waved, as Mai was on her way out.

Thankfully despite the new location, Mai didn't get lost or confused, she managed to find her way just fine. It was a large yet quaint facility, a warm welcoming feeling greeting the blonde and her feline companions entered. Shelves among shelves were spread across various roomy sections.

And of course in the middle, there were a few glass cases of a few small arts and artifacts from ancient times. This caught the eyes of Sailornyan.

"Woah! These are all so cool!" Sailornyan quite loudly stated, not knowing the concept of an inside voice. Nyanmajo and Mai tried to get her to pipe down but it was too late.

One of the librarians nearby gave quite the nasty glare at the three. Not even telling them to shush, just a cold glare from her old looking eyes. She looked quite old, aged copper red hair and dark eyes that had a glare that could freeze even the warmest of folks. Around her neck was something, but she was already back to work before Mai could get a good look.

"Try to stay quiet…" Mai whispered to her feline friends.

"Yeah...less we get glares from that lady, the better oi…" Nyanmajo whispered as well.

The three looked around the small display of cases showcasing small pieces of art, mostly from various books and literary pieces naturally. Though one of the pieces stood out.

It was a fancifully decorated Byobu, depicting quite an interesting scene on one side. The old golden screen depicted a bird, dragon, tortoise, and tiger all charging ahead as the sun broke through the clouds to shine on the animals. The four beasts seemed to be going up against some kind of dark mass, mostly covered by blotches of dark ink that didn't age well. Though the evil mass had quite the glaring look…

The other side depicted the same four animals, but with several spherical objects surrounding them depicted with bagua lines. The dark mass from before seemed to be binded by these jewels, a book being above the scene.

Mai tried to analyze the scene, but a clumsy turn made her collide with someone with quite the recoil. The two awkwardly fell over, the person Mai had bumped into looking pretty distressed.

"Goodness! M-My glasses!" The poor soul yelped. He looked about Mai's age with black hair that covered half of his face, donning a yellow cardigan sweater with a green pullover shirt and dark blue pants. The black haired boy desperately tried to feel for his glasses on the floor.

Noticing the glasses by her feet, Mai gently picked up the pair of eyewear and gently handed it over to the boy. "A-Are these yours?" Mai had asked the boy, the latter gently taking the glasses and putting them on his face.

Once the glasses had been reunited, Mai got a better look at the boy's face. He had a shy yet calm expression, complete with very soothing, gentle brown eyes.

"I'm sorry about bumping into you, I didn't really see where I was going…" Mai apologized, helping the boy up. "Then again I don't move with the most style and grace…"

"That's okay, don't worry a lot about it," The boy reassured Mai, a bit of realization coming to his face. "Oh I almost forgot, I'm Mao Hikage...You're my neighbor Sally's granddaughter, aren't you?"

"It's nice to meet you, Mao. I'm Mai Suzuki," Mai introduced herself, trying not to get too loud to get that librarian's glare again. "But how did you know that?"

Mao readjusted his glasses slightly. "I heard how she has a granddaughter back in Sakura New Town. I used to live there...at least from what I'm told, I had to move here when I was very young…"

"Interesting to hear, anywho as you can tell I'm not too alone on this," Mai responded, motioning to her two yokai companions. "These are my friends, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan. Say hello!"

"Hello!" Nyanmajo greeted with a small wave.

"Heya!" Sailornyan joined in.

Unknownst to the four, someone or rather something, was creeping around. A woodpecker with black feathers and pink and gold irises inspected a glass case containing an old journal. With precision, a hole was made to let the book gently be brought out of its glass confinements. A puff of smoke later, the woodpecker had become a snake that slithered to grab the book in it's mouth.

But, there was one who noticed the crafty shapeshifter.

"Hey...why is there a snake…" Mao asked, pointing to one of the glass cases being broken into.

"And why does it need to steal a book nonetheless?" Mai added in.

Being caught red handed, the snake transformed into a hare, nipping the book in it's mouth still as it ran.

"H-Hey! Come back here!" Mai stated, running after the rabbit, Mao and the two nyans following suit.

After the two kids ran out, the old librarian looked to see the book was stolen from the glass case much to her shock. Her shock was traded for a serious look as she made her ways out as well.

After a bit of running, the group had made it to the woods on the outskirts of town. The hare had stopped, the two teens and felines looking at the hare.

"Could you please return that book?" Mao asked, the hare squinting it's face.

"Why should I?" The hare spoke, it's dark pink and golden eyes glaring.

Another puff of smoke revealed likely the shapeshifter's true form. Taking the form of a feminine fox yokai with the same glaring hot pink and golden eyes and a sinister grin. She wore a cloak that covered her ears and split into nine ends that resembled tails with golden wisp markings on them. She wore a traditional grey kimono and geta, clutching the book in her paw like hands.

"You know I, the great Tamamo no Mae has been after this tome for so, so long…" The yokai, Tamamo no Mae introduced herself with a shrill, intimidating voice. "I will not let some foolish children wield the Yokai Sangokushi...I'm the only one worthy!"

Tamamo quickly got to undoing the straps on the book, opening to see the contents. But to her surprise.

"W-What the...they're all blank!?" Tamamo no Mae yelled, before her eyes caught the fine print on the back over. "Replication copy!?"

The sinister kitsune closed the book, a disgusted look on her face. "You...You are going to pay for wronging me like this!"

"But...we never tricked you?" Mai stammered, Mao becoming a good deal frightened by the opposing yokai.

"I don't want to hear it, you clearly did!" Tamamo no Mae yelled, throwing the book aside. "It's your kind who sealed me away, so you're guaranteed to have tricked me with a book…"

Before the kitsune could change into something threatening, Mai stepped forward, clutching her watch. "Nyanmajo, if you please, I think we're going to have to teach her a lesson!"

"Of course I shall," Nyanmajo responded, handing a yellow jewel to Mai as the blonde took a stance with the watch and jewel in hand.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her call, inserting the jewel and flipping it upwards. "...Fushigi Nyanmajo!"

With a flash of yellow light, Mai had transformed back into her original threads. Red witch's outfit with yellow socks and white mary jane shoes, complete with a small star wand in her hand. She knew the transforming on her new watch worked, but it felt oddly nostalgic with this outfit in particular.

"The yoma might have been defeated, but when evil hearts lurk, I'll be the one to stop them in the name of love and justice!" Mai gave her speech, pointing at the malicious yokai. "So that means you!"

"That's real cute, but I'm sure you've caught on that I can transform too!" Tamamo no Mae responded, a large puff of smoke enveloping her as she transformed once again. This time, she appeared to have taken the form of a vulture like raptor, but one the size of an ostrich!

Naturally Mai and Nyanmajo tried to cast some fire magic onto the large bird, but it bounced right off, reducing it to nothing. The large bird of prey knocked right into the blonde and her witchy cat as she was about to fly off from the thicket of trees, quite hard as well.

"Now come with me, you two are going to be the ones who will pay the price for messing with me!" Tamamo no Mae screeched, grabbing Mao and Sailornyan in her talons before flying off.

"Mai, Nyanmajo!" Mao and Sailornyan yelled in unison, being whisked away by the fiendish raptor.

"Mao, Sailornyan!" Mai and Nyanmajo yelled, trying to chase after the bird but alas. The tailwind from the massive bird was quite strong, causing the two to be knocked back into a tree's trunk.

The old, nameless librarian had caught up, seeing the bird take off and finding Mai and Nyanmajo by a tree with the mysterious replication copy of the Yokai Sangokushi nearby.

It didn't take long for Mai to notice the old woman's intimidating presence, the blonde quickly grabbing the book's replication copy and handing it over.

"H-here you go, I-I didn't steal it I swear!" Mai begged for mercy, the librarian giving a look that thankfully wasn't an intimidating glare.

"I know you didn't, nor did you friend," The librarian spoke for once, shocking Mai right on the spot. "What's important is that you need to save your friends from that fiend of a yokai."

"But how?" Nyanmajo questioned the old woman. "That yokai made quick work of us in one swoop!"

The old woman gently stroked her chin before nodding. "Perhaps I should give you a hand...but only this once. After this I'll expect you to learn to fend for yourself, kid."

Without another word, the elder shed off her disguise with a fiery wave of energy, revealing a much different form. She now resembled a large, majestic peafowl with glimmering vermilion wings that faded off into yellow, then green, then blue. The bird's stature easily rose over that of Mai's, and was easy enough to ride on.

"Get on, we don't have much time to lose," The large bird said, Mai complying by getting on with the replication copy of the Yokai Sangokushi still in hand, Nyanmajo following suit.

"But wait just who are you and what were you doing in a-woooaaaah!" Mai tried to ask, being caught off guard by how fast the graceful peafowl took off. Despite the large size, the bird flew as fast as a falcon.

They eventually caught up to Tamamo no Mae, managing to knock the bird down onto the roof of a large barn. Mao and Sailornyan had safely been freed from the talons of Tamamo no Mae, even Tamamo no Mae looking shocked at the sight of the massive bird.

"You're...You're…" Tamamo no Mae stammered in fear, the large vermilion bird giving a glare.

"Suzaku, the holy vermilion bird of the south, ruler of flames and the skies!" Suzaku introduced herself, giving a fiery glare at the shapeshifting yokai.

"You...I won't let you win against me this time, Suzaku!" Tamamo no Mae screeched,taking to the skies with Suzaku to fight with her there.

"How dare you have a mock copy of the Yokai Sangokushi that isn't able to do anything!?" Tamamo no Mae screeched at the vermilion bird.

"Do you think I know where that old book is!? I've been looking for it longer than you, Tamamo!" Suzaku screeched back, ramming into the other bird. "And if I do ever find it, you aren't getting your hands on it!"

Both aerial specters fought, casting blasts of vermilion and fuschia fire at one another, talons ripping into each other's feathery coats and feathers of black and vermilion scattered across the chilly air. All Mai, Mao, and the two nyans could do was simply watch from the barn's roof, unable to do much.

Though, the battle did turn for the worst…

"Now, you understand why fighting for harmony is entirely pointless, correct?" Tamamo no Mae said, managing to slam Suzaku right into the ground next to the barn. The impact left plenty of dirt and crimson feathers flying in the air. Such a feat probably would have reduced a normal bird to dust, but thankfully Suzaku was surviving but just barely...

"I...I don't fight for peace...I fight for myself and what I think is...important…" Suzaku weakly responded, trying to yell back at the large buzzard but to no avail.

Mai and the others managed to find a hatch that let them safely scale down the barn, rushing over to the vermilion bird's side.

"Are...Are you going to be okay?" Mao asked the bird, trying to keep his distance but still offering a kind gesture to the yokai.

"At least you're safe...that's all that matters right now…" Suzaku responded, looking over at Mai. "Gave what the blonde kid wanted, so my work here would be done but...I can't fly away to get back to my own business…"

Mai bit the bottom of her lip, approaching the bird sadly. "I'm...I'm really sorry...Had Mao and I not chased after Tamamo no Mae, we wouldn't be in this mess. You'd be free…"

The blonde gently stroked the bird's head as well, only to notice something near the massive bird that caught Mai's eye. Slowly the blonde picked up the object, inspecting it.

It was a jewel, similarly sized to the yokai jewel's Mai knew. It was done in a completely crystal clear casing, encompassing all the colors of light yet being none at the same time. Engraved within were bagua lines, representing the element of fire.

"Is this...what I think it is?" Mai asked, the bird weakly looking at the girl holding the jewel.

"It's one of the two jewels associated with me...Honestly kid if you think it'll do something, do what you gotta do," Suzaku responded. Mai looked down at the jewel then her watch.

It was practically instinct for her, but her hands motioned over the watch, inserting the jewel. As the clear jewel was inserted, words flowed into the blonde's mind and then out her mouth.

"Burn it up in the southern skies above! If you would please come forth the vermilion Guardian...Suzaku!" Mai yelled with all her heart, a fiery vermilion light overtaking Mai and Suzaku.

Once the fires calmed down, Mai was donning some new threads. The main outfit she wore consisted of a crimson wushu uniform, stylized with golden patterns and flames and long, wing like sleeves. On her head was a small yet elaborate golden hairclip resembling a phoenix with small red flowers accenting it.

Suzaku also went through a change, being much more humanoid with lavender skin and vermilion hair accented with light red. Her hands and feet became more talon like, even keeping her large wings, but naturally wore an outfit somewhat similar to Mai's. She looked over at the blonde.

"How...How did you do this...I wasn't allowed to change into my queen form after I used my powers during that great battle…" Suzaku monologue to herself, confused at what was going on. "You even got my looks, how is that possible?"

Mai gave Suzaku a shrug in response. "I...I don't know, I just put the jewel in there and stuff happened! But I did put my heart into it, so maybe that might have something to do with it?"

Tamamo no Mae still flew high up in the air in her bird form, Suzaku looking up at the shadowy avian. "Either way, I got business I need to take care of!"

The vermilion yokai quickly took off to the skies, leaving Mai in a bit of a panicked worried. "W-Wait up! You're just going to get yourself hurt again!"

Mai had managed to open the door to the barn, running up the stairs within to climb back up to the rooftop once again. The chilling wind made Mai nervous, but seeing the two bird yokai fighting once more made her take a deep breath and take a leap of faith.

"Mao! Nyanmajo, Sailornyan! If I fall, please catch me!" Mai shouted, running and then jumping off the barn roof with her arms extended to her side. Mao and the two feline yokai couldn't bear to watch at first until…

It was proven that Mai's sleeve wings were fully functional, the blonde taking fight and catching up with Suzaku and Tamamo no Mae.

"Suzaku, I think I know how we can win this!" Mai joined in, somehow keeping afloat as Suzaku kept casting fire at the larger raptor.

"We!? What do you mean by 'we' exactly?" Suzaku harshly responded to the blonde. "You're just going to get in the way!"

"Listen to me, you just have to give me your hand and everything will sort itself out! Just trust me on this alright?" Mai tried to convince the vermilion bird yokai, helping her avoid an incoming swoop from Tamamo no Mae.

"Quit yapping! Just fall out of the way already!" Tamamo no Mae insulted with a shrill screech. "You're like intolerable cockroaches!"

Taking Mai's word, Suzaku extended out her talon like hand to Mai, a warm feeling flowing through the both of them as they focused their energy together in the air. An aura of flames enveloped the two as they set their eyes on the dark bird of prey, flying together hand in hand.

"Corona Feathers Dance!" Both Mai and Suzaku yelled together, a massive aura of fire surrounding the two that took the shape of a large phoenix.

The fiery duo managed to engulf the dark avian in flames, causing her to plummet downwards as the vermilion duo gracefully made their ways back down to the ground. The moment the two reunited with the ground, Tamamo no Mae's bird form exploded in a mass of sparkles and feathers. Once that was said and done, Tamamo no Mae stood in her usual humanoid kitsune form.

"You'll pay for this...You'll all pay for this…" Tamamo no Mae hissed, clutching her arm and grabbed the false copy of the Yokai Sangokushi Mai had brought along. "But this is only the beginning, you hear!?"

Tamamo no Mae disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving behind another jewel. It was also completely clear like the one jewel Mai had used with her watch, also being in vermilion and white. However, this one had the lines meaning "Earth".

In the meantime, as Mai reverted back to her civilian self, Suzaku turned back into the large peafowl form. Mao, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan joined back with the group.

"H-How did you do that exactly?" Nyanmajo asked. "Not only did Mai transform, but Suzaku as well!"

"I'm not sure...I think it had something to do with the fire jewel…" Mai answered, holding up both jewels.

"That and the fire jewel is the one most associated with my direction of the south. Dunno why it made me go back into my queen form when you used it, I thought I had lost that form long, long ago…" Suzaku pondered. Mao looked but his hand on his chin in thinking.

"But if you're the titular ruler of fire and skies, how come the other jewel is earth?" Mao questioned the peafowl yokai, the latter shaking her head.

"Me and a few other beasts share elements the jewels represent, but fire is the element I rule and rule alone," Suzaku answered with a sigh. "I don't want to talk for all that much longer, so best I get you kids home…"

Mai, Mao, and the two cat yokai all climbed onto the back of Suzaku, the bird yokai flying through back to St. Peanutsburg as the sun began to gently set.

Within no time at all, Suzaku had brought the two teens in front of the house of Mai's grandmother.

"Thank you very much, Suzaku!" Mao thanked the large bird, Mai giving a gesture of thanks as well.

"Say...You gave me a jewel of some kind...does that mean we're…" Mai began to speak, trying to look into her bag for her Great Yokai Dictionary. Suzaku looked off.

"Don't count on it kid, I just saved you and your pals on a whim," Suzaku responded, stretching out her wings once more. "Just keep your noses out of trouble now, alright?"

With that, Suzaku flew off into the setting horizon. A feather from the vermilion bird gently floated from the skies. Mai took the feather and gently held it between her fingers, Mao looking as well.

"Well, for a yokai of fire she was pretty uhh...cold…" Mao remarked sheepishly. Mai nodded.

"That's true, but even if she's a bit cold I still want to try to be friends with her," Mai commented, before looking at Mao brightly. "Besides, it's not like I didn't make a friend today!"

Mao rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Aw geez Mai...W-Well I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Right, see you tomorrow, Mao!" Mai waved back, the two heading home for the remainder of the evening. Truly it was a bit of an overwhelming first day, new yokai, new evil afoot, quite a bit for a young teen to process. But, she knew she wasn't going to be alone in all this. Alongside her friends, she would do her best to unravel whatever evil was lurking before major damage could be caused!

Elsewhere, Tamamo no Mae looked over the false copy of the Yokai Sangokushi, seeing if there were any details. Through every page and cover, she checked for any signs that might help her.

"Drat...all these pages are blank...What kind of fool would make such a thing? How would they know what the Yokai Sangokushi even looks like!?" Tamamo no Mae monologue to herself, before noticing an odd symbol in one of the inner covers.

The symbol in question resembled an upside down heart made of two snake like figures. Tamamo no Mae seemed to recognize the symbol, a sinister grin on her face.

Whoever made this faux copy, they would lead her to the real deal.


	2. Tale 2: To Purify a Black Heart

**Tale 2: To Purify a Black Heart**

Back in Sakura New Town, things mostly remained the same. Quiet, relaxed, most that was different was the frosting presence of a light snow. A few people were bustling about, usually to find warmer places indoors during this kind of weather.

One of which was a familiar dark haired girl, she was scrambling to find her way to a local cafe where one of her friends was hanging out at. Though along the way, a voice stopped her.

"Miss Shinju Mori, it's been a while," A man with a name tag from Sakura New Town High School asked, Shinju seeming to recognize, stopping to say hello.

"Oh hey Mr. Kazakiri, it's been a while," Shinju greeted the teacher a bit hastily. Mr. Kazakiri simply nodded.

"Indeed it has, I hope your studies abroad have been going well," Mr. Kazakiri responded with, rubbing the back of his head. "You were a pretty good student when it came to zoological studies,"

Shinju simply responded with a shrug. "Well when I was in middle school, I wanted to become a zoologist, then a novelist, then fate had other things in mind and I'm where I am today,"

"Well whatever your dream may be, I hope you can find it one day," Mr. Kazakiri replied to the dark haired teen, rummaging through his bag. "Oh, there was something I've been needing to give you before you moved out,"

The former teacher of the second year handed over a strange charm that could easily fit into one's hand. It was done in a semi-transparent black material highlighted with a solid gold. The pattern seemed to depict some kind of reptilian beast, surrounded by snakes and blossoming trees. The odd trinket looked a bit unpolished and disrepaired over the years.

"What's this exactly, Mr. Kazakiri?" Shinju asked, holding the strange charm. Like the student earlier, the teacher simply responded with a shrug.

"Not sure, but I'm pretty sure you can figure it out," Mr. Kazakiri responded, slowly beginning to part his way. "I knew you were always smart at cracking down the details on things!"

"I'll be sure to at least attempt figuring out this...this thing!" Shinju waved back, heading off in her own separate way.

Back on her merry way, Shinju had arrived to the cafe her friend, Kokoro Yukimura, was waiting for her. In contrast to Shinju, Kokoro was a lot more...aggressive looking for lack of a better word. It was hard to believe she was actually a princess of the yokai world sometimes...

"Oi, Shinju, did something bad happen along the way here?" Kokoro asked, pushing aside her strawberry parfait as Shinju pulled up a chair. "You're never even a second late!"

"My apologies, Mr. Kazakiri stopped me along the way to give me this," Shinju responded, showing Kokoro the trinket. Kokoro inspected it, intrigued by it's strange design.

"Woah, some teacher dude just gave you that outta nowhere?" Kokoro asked, Shinju nodding. "Well in that case, that might mean you're either going to be part of a super squadron, curing the pretties, or one ultra man,"

Shinju waved her hand around. "Oh don't be ridiculous Kokoro, nothing that crazy could happen, especially after it was revealed I can control yoki and my family friend was Princess Kaguya!"

Kokoro responded only with a dead serious glare. "Shinju...I'm a princess, a ghost princess nonetheless. Mai could use magical girl powers and used said powers to bring my nephew back from the dead and break the mold between humans and yokai. Nothing's too ridiculous."

"True, but sometimes it ain't bad to be grounded in reality," Shinju responded to her more wild friend before pausing for a bit. "But speaking of your 'nephew', weren't we supposed to meet up with him here today?"

"Yeah but he ran off, citing that he'll be looking at the local zoo for a little bit…" Kokoro answered with a heavy sigh at the end. "He's been gone for over an hour at this point."

Shinju looked shocked at the news. "Oh dear, that might mean there's serious danger!"

"Shoot you're right!" Kokoro yelled, sitting right up in her chair and nearly toppling over her nearly finished parfait in the process. "We got some butt to kick and you're comin' with me!"

Within almost a flash, the duo of girls made it to the Sakura New Town Zoo, paying for their tickets and running on through the gates without a second of hesitation. Nor did they ever really decide to check their surroundings to see the instances of disrepair across the various exhibits.

Thankfully after a bit of running around, the group came across exactly who they were looking for. A boy with dark skin, spiky black hair, and attire that fit in a black, grey, and yellow color scheme. It was also a miracle that for once in the colder weather he put on longer pants and a jacket, he usually wore shorts even in the colder weather.

He was busy sitting at a bench, looking stunned and a bit miffed as the two girls joined up with him.

"En-Err...Daitaro, what's wrong?" Shinju asked, the boy looking up with a stern look before shaking his head.

"Long story short, I came here out of curiosity to not only see more exotic animals across the human world, but how they get along with yokai," The disguised king explained to the two girls. Kokoro scratched the back of her head.

"You didn't attempt to get into a fight with any of the animals, did ya?" Kokoro asked, tilting her head just a little bit. "I mean, you can probably get past most of the bars and barricades here."

"No I didn't. Another main reason I came here was to see if the yokai I requested to help lead this facility a few months ago was just...gone," Daitaro explained. "And well, something pretty awful happened that's a bit trickier to explain normally…"

It was earlier that day, things seeming peaceful in the zoo. Though it was clear something was a bit amiss among all of the facility as Daitaro walked through the paths of the zoo.

"This doesn't look like the plans Darwin had in mind…" Daitaro thought aloud to himself, looking around. A few things looked a bit unsightly, enclosures looked dirty, some of them having indisposable trash in them. Animals looked too tired to play with one another, even the tigers in one exhibit began gnawing on the bars of their cages since they didn't have anything to gnaw on. The hawks and birds of prey seemed to rely on whatever poor vermin managed to squeeze into their cages, it be squirrels or smaller birds.

Nor did they look like they had food in a long time. Was this really how the human world treated their animals? It made the young man feel a bit uneasy, seeing plastic cups and containers in everything from the flamingo bay to the lions looking unusually unhealthy...How was this place still open?

Though one thing caught Daitaro off guard the absolute most. He had finally made his way to one of the newest exhibits, or rather, stages. It was a large open air stage, bringing in quite the crowd. In the center was a young woman performing a few songs, looking quite flashy in her appearance. Around the main entertainer's neck was a decently large blue jewel often held by a particular yokai.

And he could feel it's yoki from nearby…

"R-Ryuujin? How is one..." Daitaro whispered to himself, trying to push around the crowd looking at the concert. Trusting his instincts, he backed away from the crowds only to find one horrifying sight.

Towards the back there was a dingy, pathetic looking cage, smeared in dirt and old age. Within was the Nyororon tribe yokai Ryuujin, a usually majestic yokai with green scales and a fiery orange mane, but it was clear he had seen much better days. The poor thing barely had any room to move around in, his overall physique looked extremely weak as he laid low to the cold, hard bottom of his confinement. The jewel the dragon usually carried in his claw was nowhere in sight...Meaning things might turn for the worse…

"Ryuujin!" Daitaro yelled, getting as close as he could do the dragon's cage. It was surprisingly easy with how close he could get, especially with how dangerously powerful some yokai can be.

"I'm glad someone has decided to visit me for once…" Ryujin responded to the child, his voice strained with illness and weakness. The boy tried to reach for the bars of the dingy cage, but they were given a stinging yoki charge that even he pulled back from.

"W-What on earth happened?" The disguised king asked the dragon, genuine concern painting his face as the dragon looked saddened. "I swear if this place was being run by Darwin like I had intended...you wouldn't be in such a bad spot right now…"

"It's true Darwin was in charge...at least a few days ago...but without him here...I fear for the worst…" Ryuujin responded as best as he could, trying his hardest to muster up the energy to speak. "Someone else has taken over...they took my jewel...I don't think I'll have much longer…"

"What!? Who could have taken Darwin's position!? Let alone leave you in such a horrific state!?" Daitaro yelped in horror, feeling anger, sadness, and utter confusion.

"I'm not sure...but I have one last thing to say…" Ryujin weakly spoke up, barely begin above a whisper in terms of voices. "...And that is...Thank you…"

With those final words, soon Ryujin was gone, glowing and fading away as if there wasn't a trace of him left. Witnessing all that happened, it made the black haired boy absolutely sick. The earlier hints of anger and sadness were now multiplied further.

Heck, he couldn't help but cry just a little. It was all a bit too much for him to witness at once.

"Oi kid, could you not cry in the middle of my zoological garden?" A voice scolded at the kid, coming from a rather stingy, old looking woman whose breath smelled rather ashy. "I, Chika Maki, really doesn't like cryin' kids."

"But...one of your captive yokai...he just died! I...I saw it before my very eyes!" Daitaro tried to reason with the older woman, the latter giving a huff with her ashy breath being smelt.

"Kid...yokai are ruled under the king of hell basically," Chika responded to the kid's dismay with. "And the king of hell doesn't cry over the loss of others."

Both girls were absolutely stunned that such a thing happened. Moments of silence passed between the two before any of them spoke.

"Honestly if I were you, I would have fought her right then and there," Kokoro concluded, her voice huffing with rage. "Heck I'd do that right here right now!"

Shinju put her hands on the rather rowdy royals, a deep look on her face.

"You two...I know the things Ms. Maki said were awful, I'm just as livid as all of you...but I'll calmly try to reason with her…" Shinju tried to reason with the other two. "You can rally up any yokai you think might can help, and perhaps see if Darwin is anywhere as well, alright?"

The other two darted, going their own ways as Shinju made her way to the main office in the zoo. Much to her surprise, it was easy to get in and have a talk with the head of the zoological gardens.

"So, whatcha in here for?" Chika asked, looking bored and done out of her mind. "If you're gonna be one of those 'complain to the manger to get free stuff' types, make it snappy."

"Listen, I never complain for the sake of getting free things, but you have to listen to me," Shinju stated, keeping her head calm yet was a bit firm with her tone. "The animals under your care are in pretty garbage conditions. Anyone can see the animals here aren't all the happy…"

Chika looked quite annoyed by the girl's remark by giving a shrug. "Kid, animals don't bring in the big bucks. I'm merely focusing my efforts on what the people, both humans and spirits, want."

"What do you mean 'what the people want' exactly!?" Shinju questioned the zoo's head admin, raising her voice slightly. "People come here to see and learn about animals in happy, well kept environments. Because if animals aren't happy, people aren't happy!"

"You know what else is a smash hit among both yokai and humans? NyanKB," Chika began to answer to Shinju, her voice sounding slurred and gravely. "I may as well ride that money train while it's hot, maybe convert this dump into a full on idol capital! After all, money makes the world go round and round!"

Shinju was a bit stunned at what this woman was saying, pretty much downright disgusted. "H-How could you even think of such things?! That's downright inhumane!"

Chika gave a grin. "Oh who said I was ever human?"

A puff a ashy smoke soon revealed Chika's true form. She took the form of a long, tattered looking yokai, long face and long, legless body and everything. She had a haunting face, her old kimono decorated to look like a once priceless folding screen.

"My name is Byobu Nozoki, I'm one of the great commanders for the majestic lady Tamamo no Mae," Byobu Nozoki properly introduced herself. "Which is why I was able to take over so easily, made that alleged 'Great Man Legend' Darwin a mere joke."

"Alright I now know who you are, but why take over a zoo of all places?" Shinju questioned the evil yokai.

"Simple, I'm fueled by the lust for greed and power both humans and yokai share," Byobu Nozoki explained. "A zoo seemed the best place to keep cover and farm despairty from life in the human realm. My majesty loves seeing things suffer after all."

Shinju bit her lip, can't helping but letting her internal anger slip just a little bit. "So you really are being cruel to the animals here!"

Byobu Nozoki looked back, extending herself to grab herself around the long haired girl. "And you know what I do with you preachy environmental types? I put you where you belong!"

The long yokai dragged Shinju along, to a deep hole within one of the backstage areas of the zoo. "Which is where the dinosaurs are: underground!"

With little to no time to react, Shinju was thrown into the hold, ending up in a dark, dingy underground facility that was just barely illuminated. The bulbs on the underground lamps could be replaced, they kept flickering…

"Ow...that was a hard landing…" Shinju cursed to herself, looking up. The hole was sealed, and there didn't seem to be any way out.

"Goodnes, how did you end up down here?" A voice asked, giving Shinju a sense of relief but also slight fear that she wasn't alone in all this.

"W-Who said that!?" Shinju asked, looking around. Soon enough, she was greeted by a yokai that took the form of an old man with a long beard and a golden star on his head. He was riding on a galapagos tortoise and had a small finch on his head. By his side was another yokai, taking the form of a small green dragon.

"Apologies for the startling, I'm the Pokapoka representative of the Great Man Legends, Darwin," The old man yokai, Darwin, introduced himself, gently gesturing to the small green dragon by his side. "And this is my assistant in training, Nyororon Ryuu-kun."

"Hello…!" Ryuu-kun shyly greeted.

"Heyo, I'm Shinju Mori, long story short, that yokai Byobu Nozoki threw me down here after I questioned her," Shinju introduced herself. "The place is in shambles without you Darwin, we honestly need you back!"

Darwin stroked his beard. "I'd love to be back, however I lack any sort of key to break free. Believe me, I don't think I can bear to look at a place like this in shambles…"

"I want that mean yokai gone too...she...she took my papa and I was too sick to do anything!" Ryuu-kun teared up a little. "I'm better now thanks to Darwin, but I wanna save my papa! I don't know what that meanie could have done to him!"

"I think we all do...but I'm not sure how we can break out…" Shinju stated aloud, rummaging through her pockets. "Most I got is my cell phone, a lipstick charger, and this weird ancient lookin' thing a former teacher gave me…"

Though as Shinju got out the strange black and gold emblem began to faintly glow.

"Why is it glowin?" Ryuu-kun asked Shinju, trying to look at the emblem. Darwin was able to get a good look and deduce something.

"I think it might lead a way out of here!" Darwin concluded, Shinju looking stunned before nodding.

"Alright, let's see if this takes us anywhere!" Shinju finished, holding out the black trinket to figure out a direction. It got brighter in some directions, dimmer in others.

The merry trio kept going on their way, the underground facility getting less and less modernized and much more like a cave as the light from the trinket grew brighter and brighter and the trinket began to look more and more cleaned up.

Once it was at its brightest, the Great Man Legend had sort of an "oh" moment.

"Wait a moment...That's...That's the emblem for one of the Four Holy Beast yokai!" Darwin gasped, Shinju looking just as shocked.

"I mean, I had a friend who's visiting the USA find one of those…" Shinju responded with a bit of stammering. "Dunno much about them beyond that…"

"A lot of their lore remains a mystery...all we know is that they're some of the oldest and most powerful yokai, believed to possibly had a great war in China before making peace and migrating here…" Darwin stated, looking deep into thought. "They all ran off into isolated places or sealed themselves off...nobody's sure why…"

"So maybe…" Shinju stated, before turning around to see a massive rock formation. It was vague, but looked like the front end of a very large tortoise if you squint hard enough. This didn't stop the teen from getting closer and closer until…

"A-Ack!" Shinju gasped, the emblem glowing a blinding light. The rocks slowly began to shatter away. Bioluminescent plants began to grow across the cave floor, giving much of a clear image down bellow.

Once the light show had stopped, the rock formation was no more. Now standing in front of the three was a black and dark grey tortoise yokai easily the size of an apatosaurus and looked just about as old as one too. The massive yokai lowered it's neck, getting a better look at the three with gentle eyes and small branches of plum blossoms circling it's head.

"It's been a while since I've had any sort of company I'll say," The large yokai greeted with, a feminine voice that was old, yet incredibly soothing and gentle.

"W-Who are you?" Shinju asked, stunned at the massive yokai. The tortoise simply gently nodded her head before introducing herself.

"I am none other than Genbu, the black tortoise of the north, ruler of the plains and flora," Genbu formally introduced herself, looking down to see Shinju with the black emblem. "It appears one of you has my emblem...Do you mind telling me what's wrong, child?"

"The zoo we're under the grounds of...it's a mess right now, the animals are being treated horribly...all for the scheme of the yokai Byobu Nozoki in farming despairty…" Shinju explained, looking distraught. Genbu put on a rather serious, worried expression on her face.

"Goodness me...I can't believe a former general of mine would even think of such a thing!" Genbu responded with. "After all...while it's true humans and yokai depend on one another, same is for animals and yokai…"

Genbu lowered her neck low to the ground in front of the three. "Now, please climb onto my neck, we're getting ourselves out of here."

As prompted, the trio all climbed onto the neck of Genbu. The large tortoise shifted around, breaking free from her rocky confinements and emerging onto the surface. It turned out most of the surface of Genbu's shell was used as small garden, the large tree, grass, and even the stone structures staying intact as she resurfaced. Quite a few people stepped back as Genbu made her ways, trying not to step on anyone or anything.

Thankfully nearby were Shinju's two other friends alongside a small posse of yokai. Like everyone else, they were quite shocked to see the massive yokai.

"W-Where did that yokai come from!?" Kokoro gasped, Genbu lowering her head.

"Why, from the underground," Genbu simply and calmly answered the rougher teen. "Heaven knows how long I had been under there…"

"S-Shinju? Y-you befriended this yokai?" Daitaro asked, Shinju nodding.

"Oh Genbu, Darwin, Ryuu-kun, these are my friends, Kokoro and Daitaro. Say hello!" Shinju prompted, both sides waving back as they well, all climbed onto the back of Genbu.

"Well now that we're all together, now what do we do?" Shinju wondered, something catching her eye.

Inside a stone lantern was a completely clear jewel, only marked with black lines that represented the bagua symbol for water.

Within Shinju's mind something seemed the clock, with both the jewel and emblem in hand. She slowly but surely motioned her hand to insert the jewel into the emblem, it beginning to glow as words formed into her mouth.

"Calm as a plain, the north blossoming with life! If you would please come forth, the Black Guardian...Genbu!" Shinju called forth, a powerful light enveloping her and Genbu. The light was a bit too distracting from having the teen question what exactly was going on.

Once the light died down, not only was everyone standing on solid ground, but Genbu had shifted her form. She now took the appearance of an old looking humanoid yokai, carrying around a walking stick and a large shield on her back.

Of course, Genbu wasn't alone. Shinju also gained a few threads, mostly in the form of a black martial arts outfit with a few blue-grey accents. In her hair was a silver hair accessory vaguely resembling the tortoise yokai, complete with plum blossoms in her hair. She wielded a nicely decorated bo staff in her hands.

"W-What the!?" Shinju gasped, looking shocked at her new looks. "I...I transformed, but how!?"

"I'm not sure how, but kudos, that's pretty dang cool," Kokoro commented, nodding. "Now if only I could get one of those…"

"Are you sure this is going to be more effective than, you know, being a giant turtle monster?" Daitaro inquired, Genbu nodding.

"I'm sure it will, it's been ages since I wasn't in a form so…reasonably sized. Anywho, I believe I have a plan," Genbu stated, tapping her cane down. "All you yokai, go gather as many animals as you can, it'll be essential in fending off Byobu Nozoki!"

"You got it!" The crowd of yokai said, all going their own ways to free up some animals.

Back at the main attraction of the zoo, the large stage, the zoo's main performer stood in a cute pose.

"Alright fellas, who's ready for The Amazing Kyu-tie-Zoo's hit single~!?" The zoo's stage attraction, Miss Kyu-tie-Zoo, asked the audience. A somewhat audible cheer could be heard as the performance was about to start…

Until a large posse of animal calls could be heard. There was an elephant's, followed by a lion, a tiger, then finally an eagle. Crashing onto the stage was a large posse of animals and a few animal based yokai. An African elephant, a lion, a Bengal tiger, A baboon, and a ball python were accompanied by the yokai Manjoshi and Nue. A group of birds including a Sea Eagle, California Condor, Trumpeter Swan, Blue Swallow, and a Great Horned owl were being lead by Kijinyan. A few Aldabra giant tortoises, a komodo dragon, and some flamingos were being accompanied by Darwin and Ryuu-kun.

And finally there were the ones leading the charge.

"Apologies for the crashing in on things," Shinju opened with, sounding friendly yet firm. "But we're all here to speak with your boss about messing with wildlife here."

Miss Kyu-tie Zoo looked frightened, fearful. "Ohhh shiitake mushrooms this is everything but extra peachy keen!" She cursed to herself. She then thought of an idea to try and make peace with the animals.

She turned around to the group, giving a cute pose with one sentence coming out of her mouth. "N-Nya!"

The group of animals did not approve, charging in after her. Even the eagle of the group managed to swoop down and snap up the large dragon jewel around her neck. Miss Kyu-tie-Zoo made one heck of a scramble out of there.

"Byobu Nozoki! Boss! We got some pretty not authorized company!" Miss Kyu-tie-Zoo yelled the for evil yokai as she ran off stage, the group of yokai and animals following suit. "Kyah! I can't stand filthy animals!"

"This is much more entertaining, honestly…" An audience member remarked.

"Agreed," Their neighbor nodded with in agreement.

It didn't take all that long for the charge of the wild to find the long, elongated yokai.

"Oh it's the pathetic troupe of children again…" Byobu Nozoki cursed, before getting herself a bit straight. "...And it seems you've broken out a lot of the zoo's animals...goodie…"

"And it's been quite some time since we've last met, Byobu Nozoki," Genbu greeted with, sounding fairly firm, but it was enough to get the long yokai all nervous.

"Listen, humans are naturally greedy, so yokai are greedy, animals are just caught in the crossfire because they're too stupid to think!" Byobu Nozoki responded with a loud hiss. "That's exactly why I left you in the dirt, you old coot!"

Genbu paused, looking at the long yokai with a serious look in those calm, old eyes of hers. "Perhaps my friends here could introduce you to...What did you call it again, Darwin?"

"Natural selection?" Darwin filled in for his fellow elder yokai.

"Yes, that," Genbu concluded before nodding her head. "Now, animals of the human world, wild hearted yokai of the yokai world, let your instincts awaken!"

Byobu Nozoki tried to stretch around the herd of wild animals, but was constantly broken through. Claws, talons, nibbling, the sheer girth and size of some of the animals alone, it didn't hold up against the more sinister yokai very well.

"What do you think this is?" Byobu Nozoki snarled, trying to recover from all the tearing apart. "Some magical rainforest inhabited by pixies? Please, this is reality! Filthy animals will never win, but my greed will!"

Before she knew it, Byobu Nozoki was being wrapped up like a noodle by the swift movements of one bo staff wielding teen.

"What's that? I can't hear you!" Shinju remarked, dragging the yokai along as she approached Genbu. The dark haired girl extended her hand out to the elder tortoise yokai "I...I think this is how my friend did it…"

The two forces joined hands, an elegant and vibrant black light shining as the two posed.

"Nature's Greatest Healing Call!" Both of them yelled, Genbu holding up her shield as Shinju swung around her staff with Byobu Nozoki wrapped into it, smacking it right onto the shield.

The large metal disc not only made a loud chime, but unleashed a powerful shockwave all across the zoo. Once the light calmed down, a lot had changed. The audio stage and Byobu Nozoki were gone, so was all the trash and disrepair in the zoo. All the animals were returned to their exhibits, now much more spacious, well kept, and given food regularly. Peace seemed to have truly returned to the zoo…

...Except for one thing…

"W-Where's my papa?" Ryuu-kun asked, looking around. A worried look graced the dragon child's eyes. "Wasn't he taken here?"

Before the eagle was returned to it's home, it had given Daitaro the dragon's jewel. The young boy bit his lower lip, knowing it wouldn't be easy, but it had to be done. May as well reveal his true identity to the yokai kid…

Unveiling his identity as Great King Enma, the boy knelt don to Ryuu-kun holding the dragon jewel close. "I would hate to be the bearer of bad news but…"

"B-But what y-your majesty?" Ryuu-kun stuttered, shocked to see the young king of the yokai world before him. Was he in major trouble!?

The young king held out the jewel that was once held by the dragon child's father, before giving the small dragon a hug. "I'm sorry...I'm really sorry...there wasn't anything I could do…"

Ryuu-kun hugged back, trying not to cry but failing. The rest of the gang stood in silence before the two broke away from their hug.

"Please, have this...it belonged to your father, I have no need to keep it," Great King Enma finished, even a few tears escaping his eyes as he handed the small dragon the jewel.

"I'll take good care of it, not just for your sake, but my papa's!" Ryuu-kun finished, trying his best to dry up from his tears as he clenched the jewel.

Within moments, a powerful aura surrounded Ryuu-kun until he had transformed into Ryuujin. He ended up greatly resembling his father, but looking much more vibrant and bold. Lowering his head somewhat, he game Great King Enma an affectionate snuggle.

"Thank you, I have no other words to really say to express my gratitude towards you and your friends here today," Ryuujin thanked, only to look around a bit, only to see a large crowd slowly starting to form. "...You all wouldn't mind a ride back to the yokai world, would you?"

"I don't mind, I mean, I've probably been out for a long while now…" Great King Enma sheepishly responded, embarrassedly rubbing the back of his head. "But, can you blame me, humans are quite interesting."

"Yeah good point, we should be getting a move on," Kokoro stated, kicking up a strange jewel the evil yokai had left behind. It was crystal clear like the one Shinju had used, marked with black and azure lines that represented "mountain".

As her two other friends got onto the back of the dragon yokai, Shinju waved goodbye to Darwin and Genbu, the latter peacefully lounging with her fellow torises.

"Thank you! I'll be sure to call you if I need anything!" Shinju waved, Genbu and Darwin nodding.

"And we'll be sure to get a hold of you if anything dares to interrupt the peaceful circle of life!" Genbu said, watching the three fly off peacefully back to the yokai world.

Though while victory seemed peaceful, a soul thought to have disappeared brushed off dirt as she walked through the outskirts of the zoo once it closed at the dead of night. Miss Kyu-tie-Zoo, the former idol, gave a tsk before unveiling her true form.

Her true form was that of a ghostly, whisp like figure with a wispy tail instead of legs, a feminine upper body, and a boar's head covered by some strange VR mask.

"Ugh, I hated being in that form," The boar yokai cursed to herself. "It was way too sarchine for my tastes...Well at least I better head back and tell Tamamo the bad news…"

As for Tamamo no Mae, she had quite the agenda on hand. She had located where the Yokai Sangokushi replica was made by, one of the most prestigious families in the yokai world known as the Line of the Snake Kings.

Appropriately, she disguised herself as a small yet quick snake, slithering around until she found exactly what she was looking for. It was in one of the darkest, dingiest cells in the mansion basement.

"So, you wouldn't happen to be the true Snake King, now would you?" Tamamo no Mae whispered to the sole soul in the prison cell.

"Yeah..." The prisoner responded. He looked like he had seen better days, his medium length cobalt hair a bit of a mess, dirt staining his clothes. His eyes of light blue and carmine looked tired, exhausted. "But who are you exactly?"

Figuring it was best to reveal her true self, Tamamo no Mae did just that, kneeling before the chained up prisoner. "I'm the one who will help you set things right. I mean, a hanyo like you should be in charge of the yokai in this new society, correct? One where humans and yokai live in harmony, isn't that a dream you wish to lead?"

The prisoner remained silent for a bit, biting his lower lip.

"Of course, a lot of people in this world are cowards, fools," Tamamo no Mae spoke. "I mean, who would lock up their true king, one that should certainly be the one bringing yokai hand in hand."

Tamamo no Mae put her hands on the prisoner's shoulders. "Just come with me, I'll not only get you out of here and treat you like the royalty you deserve, but give you unbelievable power. All for one simple price."

The blue haired hanyo looked intrigued, a smug grin showing up on his face. "Sure, I'm willing to pay!"

"Good, it's simple, make those fools who defied you cower in fear and despair!" Tamamo no Mae said, breaking the chains off the prisoner, holding out a pocket mirror as she set off a smoke trap. Soon, the two had returned to the lair of the shapeshifting fox.

"Lady Tamamo!" The boar headed yokai said, floating up to the kitsune yokai. "I would hate to report this, but not only did Byobu Nozoki perish, but Genbu has awakened, she seems to have formed an alliance with Great King Enma, and the mountain jewel Byobu Nozoki was holding is in their hands!"

"Goodness, well that's...pretty bad I'll say," Tamamo no Mae responded, looking doubtful before grinning once more. "But, my dead Jami, don't fret, for I have a savior in all of this,"

"You do?" The boar headed yokai, Jami, responded with shocked.

"Yes, please meet my newest and greatest ally in our mission," Tamamo no Mae introduced the recently freed prisoner. "His great majetsey, Snake King Kaira."


	3. Tale 3: Unity of Hearts!

**Tale 3: Unity of Hearts! Trouble in Paradise!**

Roughly two hours passed since Kaira was brought to the mysterious residence of Tamamo no Mae. Despite being a menacing yokai, she kept things quite classy and didn't fail on her promise of treating the young hanyo like royalty. He had been cleaned up from all the dirt and grime he had in prison, given nicer clothing, and was now going to have dinner with the other residents of the eerie mansion.

Even dinner wasn't a slouch, offering a wide array of the finest cuisines from across both the human and yokai worlds. Tamamo no Mae, Jami, and another yokai that took the form of a muscular, dragon crocodile-like being all sat comfortably across from Kaira.

"I'm surprised you didn't end up breaking the boy's back, Wani," Jami commented, ironically eyeing at some pork. The large dragon crocodile, Wani, tore into a leg of turkey and looked at the boar spirit.

"I'm surprised you, and I'm the guy who freed the yokai across the sea for lord Sei…" Wani tried to say, only to get a glare from Tamamo no Mae.

"You know the dinner rules and rules here in general is not to mention your former retainers, correct?" Tamamo no Mae scolded, making Wani somewhat nervous. "Don't mention such a thing again in front of the young prince, got it?"

"So I can just...go wherever?" Kaira asked, a bit confused. Tamamo no Mae adjusted her gaze to the blue haired half yokai.

"Oh no, my little prince, you first have to complete the task I have for you tomorrow before you can do any personal headhunting," Tamamo no Mae replied, keeping up an intimidating yet somehow motherly tone to her voice. "Think of it as training so you can defeat your foes in a single strike rather than multiple."

"A-are you sayin' I'm not strong enough!?" Kaira raised his voice, sounding a bit shocked. He looked ready to fight, only for Tamamo no Mae to give an even harsher glare.

"I'm not expecting you, the poor soul who got overthrown by his own people and locked up for being a 'freak', to be able to take revenge on your people right away," Tamamo no Mae explained. "At least not yet, but letting you take someone else out might help you hone your skills and anger."

Tamamo no Mae snapped her fingers, a blue and black blade with silver, wavy accents appearing in front of Kaira. "This is the Sword of the Snake King, get some rest first, and then I'll assign you to your first target, got it?"

Kaira eyed the sword, taking it into his hands. "Got it!"

Soon, the evening had ended for the malicious gang, Tamamo no Mae returning to her private quarters to look at the replica of the Yokai Sangokushi again.

"Now all I need is to figure out how to use that poor sap to find the real deal…" Tamamo no Mae whispered to himself. "He is the snake king, perhaps a relative might know it's location?"

Back in St. Peantusburg, a new morning had arisen, the events back home in Sakura New Town unfolding as Mai slept. Through several text based messages, the two had caught up on each others rather absurd shenanigans. Two legendary beast yokai from ancient times had awakened, bringing forth quite a bit of mystery to the group of friends.

The blonde's day had begun with her and her two feline friends being called to the table and to be dressed and ready for the day.

"Grandma, is something wrong?" Mai asked the elder relative of hers, quite concerned. The elder woman simply shook her head.

"No, no nothing's wrong here, in fact it's the total opposite," Mai's grandma responded with a warm smile as she got out an envelope. "Here, open this, I think you'll like what's inside,"

Being handed a normal looking large envelope, she slowly opened the beige paper enclosure. Reaching into it, there were a few papers and a small yet elegant piece of plastic. Reading the papers and looking at the card like object, Mai looked absolutely shocked.

"What!? Y-you got me a ticket to Max Ansley World? And reservations to one of the nicest resorts on property? For an entire week!?" Mai asked, shocked and absolutely stunned. "B-But how!? T-This is honestly hard to believe…"

"Simple my dear, a side job of gardening for the Hazeltine Mansion, you'd be shocked at how big that place is! It's almost like a dungeon of it's own!" Mai's grandma commented with a laugh at the end. "Oh how I loved that family…'s paychecks."

"Grandma...I...I honestly can't believe this…Why though?" Mai asked, still shocked and confused. "I'm sure the family you did gardening for paid well, but surely this wasn't cheap to get…" Mai responded, being completely flattered. Mai's grandma simply put her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"I'd say it was because you were honored by that Enma child for your efforts to bring yokai and humans together, but that really isn't it…" Mai's grandma responded with. "Truth is, it's more of a gift in saying how proud I am of you. From what your parents have told me, moving and starting high school was rough at first...but you ended up making friends and opening up more as time went on. You've truly changed a lot for the better, I hope you keep it up Mai."

Mai was silent for a moment, before a few small tears formed in her eyes and she hugged her grandma, utterly speechless for what to say other than a quiet yet sincere "thank you".

The elder looked over at the two feline yokai. "Now, you two make sure Mai doesn't get lost, it's a pretty big resort."

"We'll make certain of that, we promise," Nyanmajo responded with a sense of responsibility.

"Yeah, though we might be the ones who wind up lost first…" Sailornyan sheepishly added in.

"Well now, let's get you to the bus stop, thankfully it's all a one way, hour long bus trip," Mai's grandma said, getting her coat on as Mai grabbed her things.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Mai said, thankfully most of her things still in tact. She could feel her heart pumping, she was beyond excited to experience this grand resort. All the attractions, shows, food, it all seemed so magical!

In a short amount of time, Mai found herself on the motorcoach to the near legendary resort, quite shocked to see a familiar face on the bus.

"Mao?" Mai asked, noticing the black haired boy walking down the aisle of the bus. He was a bit startled by the blonde noticing him, Mai quickly saying "Sorry! Sorry!" before gesturing him to sit next to her.

"I didn't know you were going on a trip to this resort...Max Ansley World was it?" Mao asked, Mai nodding sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head.

"Well truth be told I didn't find out I was going until just this morning, it was quite the shock," Mai responded to the black haired boy, responding with a nod.

"I wasn't expecting to go either, but my mom said it was for my own safety, actually," Mao responded, Mai looking a bit confused.

"For your own safety? How come?" Mai asked, Mao giving a slight confused shrug.

"She said something about the amount of humans and yokai that go there is pretty large so I would be harder to spot," Mao answered for Mai. "Long story short...my mom really didn't take well to what happened the other day and said she could get me on a vacation…"

Goodness, it didn't even feel like it was yesterday that Mai and Mao not only had their encounter with the legendary beast of the south, Suzaku, but the malicious yokai Tamamo no Mae. Tamamo no Mae did seem pretty dangerous...so maybe going to a large resort destination would be trickier for her to spot?

"Well, even if you're going there for the sake of your own safety, that doesn't mean we can't have fun, right?" Mai responded with, trying to lighten up the mood a little. "We might be staying in different places but that doesn't mean we can't have fun together, right?"

Mao was quiet for a little bit, before smiling before speaking up. "I suppose...Sorry if I don't know much, I've never really had any friends…"

A moment of brief silence had passed the blonde. Goodness, he really was a lot like her nearly a year ago...and a little bit of how she still is now. Shy, a bit awkward, and didn't have many friends.

"It's okay, I don't have too many friends either," Mai responded with, trying to reassure the boy. "I don't mind being your friend, best we less sociable types stick together, you know?"

"Y-Yeah!" Mao finished with, seeming to be in a better mood.

The two kept talking on the bus, about their lives and how things have been. It was an odd feeling, even though Mai had only known Mao for about a day, he was pretty easy to talk to. She usually wasn't this open and sociable with her human peers, yet it felt like she had known Mao for a while.

The hour long bus drive seemed to have whizzed by almost instantly, the two getting off the bus and heading to their respective resort hotels. Ironically, they weren't all the far apart, just a jogging trail away from each other.

"I'll be at the Versailles Garden Resort if you need anything!" Mai said to Mao, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan standing by her side.

"Right, a-and I'll be right across in the Micronesia Island Resort!" Mao waved back, the two groups going their own ways but not technically all that far apart.

Upon entering, Mai and her feline companions were absolutely stunned by the beautiful french architecture both on the outside and interior.

"This looks like the setting for a romance," Nyanmajo commented, looking over at one of many intricate vases with neatly organized rose bushes.

"Or a romantic tragedy," Sailornyan added in, still looking around. "Either way, this place sure is pretty…I'd like to live here!"

The group checked in, being handed the key card to the room and headed right in. It was probably the nicest hotel room Mai had seen, matching the overall high quality of the building with ornate gold details shimmering throughout. She had set her bags aside, she really needed to relax, even if it was just for a little bit.

As Mai rested, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan took a look around the room. It was pretty spacious and extremely fancy, even had an outdoor balcony. Pulling back the curtains to look out the balcony, they could see the large garden and pool area of the resort.

About an hour had passed, possibly even more, it was hard to tell when one was napping. But soon Mai had gotten up and went looking for Mao. It was a bit of a walk, but half way across the jogging trail she had encountered someone.

"Excuse me young miss," An elder voice said. Mai turned around to see who it was. She looked older than dirt, with slightly greyed black hair tied into a thick ponytail resting to her side. She carried around a large wooden walking stick, wearing black robes. It was hard to tell if she was human or yokai. "Are you headed to the Micronesia Island Resort?"

"Yes I am, ma'am!" Mai politely answered for the old woman.

"Do you mind taking me there? I was heading back from the Dreaming Country Park but accidentally got off the stop for the Versailles Garden Resort," The older woman asked, Mai nodding in response.

"Of course, I'm going to meet a friend there," Mai finished, taking the elder's hand and leading her to the Oceania themed resort. Despite the long walk there wasn't much exchange between Mai, the elder woman, or even any quipps from Nyanmajo or Sailornyan.

"Thank you very much dear," The elder thanked, before pausing for a moment to rest her hand on her lips. "If you don't mind, could you bring your friend here? I would like to meet him before we go our ways."

"S-Sure!" Mai responded, trying not to sound awkward. She headed up to the front desk, saying she was meeting with a friend and proceeded forward to the guest room Mao was staying in. Of course, she made sure to inform him beforehand.

"Don't you think this old lady is...you know...that crazy shapeshifting fox lady?" Sailornyan questioned, Mai stopping in her tracks.

"Oh…" Mai realized halfway, before Nyanmajo stepped in.

"Well, we did have to study Tamamo no Mae for a class," Nyanmajo informed. "I recall them clearly stating that she could turn into just about anything if she was given enough power except for a human form. Nobody's really sure why, but I know it was clearly stated…"

"They sure do teach a lot of weird things in magic school…" Mai responded, trying to keep her foot forward. She held onto her yokai watch, clutching it just in case there was going to be some fighting break out in the lobby.

They had made it up to Mao's room, knocking on the door before the rather shy boy stood cautiously in the hallway.

"Oh Mai, you're here," Mao answered shyly. "We're going now, r-right?"

"Yep, don't worry though, I'm prepared in case something bad happens," Mai reassured. "At least I think I am…"

The two walked down through the halls and back to the lobby, the elder woman waiting for them both. Mai clutched onto her watch just in case she had a suspicious agenda on hand.

"Oh so this is your friend then, Mai?" The elder woman asked. Thankfully on her way she had at least told the woman her name was Mai at the very least, so this didn't make her completely suspicious. So in response, Mai nodded.

"Very well, I'm sure he doesn't mind meeting your friends I've met the other day," The elder woman concluded, Mai really becoming suspicious. How did this old lady meet her friends all the way back in Sakura New Town!?

"W-Who are you?" Mai asked, trying to keep her calm. Usually she would be panicking in this kind of situation but something about the old lady's aura was so...calming? Made her at ease? It was odd…

The elder tapped her walking stick, the yokai Ungaikyo appearing by her side. Though, this one was different, having a gold color scheme with accents of red, blue, white, and black.

"I'll introduce myself when we're all together, but for now…" The old woman said, looking at the mirror yokai. "Would you mind taking these two where the others are so I can meet with them personally?"

"Of course!" The Ungaikyo finished, teleporting Mai and Mao to who knows where.

After a few brief moments, Mai could feel that they were in the yokai world, but in an ornate but secluded mansion somewhere…

"Mai!" Kokoro yelled, jumping off her position off of one of many sofas. Shinju and even Great King Enma were also there, quickly coming over to welcome back the girl and inquire about the strange new boy.

"H-hey guys!" Mai responded, being a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people. "Anyways, long story short, this is my friend Mao! I mentioned him a few times yeah?"

Before the gang could really catch up, the elder woman had returned, revealing that in fact she was a yokai. "My apologies for holding back on my introduction. I'm Genbu, the Tortoise Queen of the North."

The elder yokai quickly got the attention of everyone in the room. "I believe I not only have some answers, but some questions to take in as well. Who wants to go first?"

Shinju was the first to step in. "Going off of all the crazy stuff that happened the other day, the biggest question is how can you keep at a small size without me having to use your emblem?"

"Simple really, by the power of your heart, you were able to awaken an art I thought I had lost long ago," Genbu answered, resting her hand on her chin. "I could freely go between a more traditional beast form and this one with ease, at least before The Great Cleave happened…"

"Great...Cleave?" Mao asked, catching Genbu's attention.

"Well...how do I explain this? Long ago, the human and yokai worlds lived harmoniously together...until there was a great calamity. It was too strong for even me and the other three holy beast yokai, so we took bits of our souls to give life to a yokai so powerful it didn't belong to the eight tribes…"

Genbu kept on with her story repositioning herself. "That yokai was the great Huang Long, with his help we were able to defeat and seal away the evil, but at a strong price. You see, Huang Long had to perform an action so powerful it not only split the evil, but split the worlds. Then after that, the Ten Sacred Jewels scattered across both the human and yokai worlds...to be collected if such an evil where to rise again..."

"So that's what all the jewels are for, to call a super powerful yokai if we find ourselves in such a danger we would need to call him?" Kokoro asked, Genbu nodding back.

"Yes, alas I don't recall the exact summoning ritual needed...nor the location of the sealed evils...They say Huang Long recorded all that, alongside all the other events up to that point in a book called the Yokai Sangokushi," Genbu stated. "But goodness, that thing has been hidden quite well for the past 6,000 years...Though I know a few parts…"

"What's that?" Shinju asked, Genbu adjusting her gaze.

"We need the Ten Sacred Jewels, four brave yet loving souls to have contracted with the holy beast yokai, and a son of Huang Long himself to call forth his ancestor himself…" Genbu stated, the room looking shocked.

"A-A son of Huang Long?" Mai responded, quite shocked. "H-He must be powerful...and hard to find, right?"

"I say he would be tricky to find, but we already have him right in here!" Genbu responded with a light laugh.

"What!?" Everyone in the room yelled in shock. Genbu merely pointed her stick at Great King Enma.

"This boy here...Was it Emma?" Genbu pondered for a bit, before getting back on track. "Anywho, the light of heaven and earth that Huang Long so possessed...it burns within you, I can see it in your eyes."

Great King Enma looked the most surprised. "It's Enma, actually. But seriously? I know some of my ancestors were dragons and even cats but really?"

"Yes child, it may be a bit much, but it's vital for you and your friends to get those jewels before the Yokai Sangokushi ends up in the wrong hands…" Genbu warned. "Otherwise not only will the human world be destroyed, but the yokai world as well."

Great King Enma stood up, startling the others somewhat. "Either way, I say we all go after the jewels! I don't even know where to start, but let's go!"

The Ungaikyo from earlier approached sheepishly. "I think I have a vague idea on where to start, or at least a place radiating a lot of yoki…"

"Do you mind taking us there?" Mao asked, the mirror yokai nodded.

"It's my duty, so please step forth when ready!" Ungaikyo finished, everyone filing up to jump through the mirror yokai's portal. First was Great King Enma, then Kokoro, Shinju, Mao…

But one seemed to stay behind…

"Mai?" Genbu asked concerned, approaching the blonde. She seemed a bit miffed, having pulled out the feather Suzaku left behind the other day.

"Mmm?" Mai answered, sounding quite out of it. Genbu seemed to recognize the feather.

"Oh...It seems you've encountered Suzaku, are you the one who bonded with her?" Genbu prompted, Mai rubbing the back of her head with her free hand.

"I dunno...I was able to transform using my watch, she could change forms too...But she took the jewel she dropped and Tamamo no Mae dropped as well…" Mai said quite puzzled. "Guess I was pretty distracted by the feather…"

Genbu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "To be honest...Despite Suzaku being of fire, she takes a very long time to warm up to. Byakko and Seiryu were even scared of her for ages, she was mercilessly violent."

"I could tell that from how I saw her fought...She looked like she was out for blood!" Mai replied, Genbu looking in deep thought. The old turtle yokai got up and grabbed a very particular scroll off a shelf, being held within a vermillion casing.

"Mai, I feel you should come with me and give Suzaku this. Don't worry, I'll be behind you so she won't attack you," Genbu said, handing Mai the scroll.

"W-What's in it?" Mai asked, a bit confused. "And what about my friends?"

"We'll catch up to them if danger arises, Ungaikyo will let us know if there's trouble," Genbu answered, gently taking Mai by the hand. "Now, Ungaikyo, please take us to the most southern yomakai, the Suzaku Island."

"No problem, just be extra careful you two, alright?" Ungaikyo stated, opening up the way within him. The two went on through, going to the mysterious yomakai.

Upon the duo's arrival, they had arrived within a surprisingly beautiful, lush island that had been fertilized by eons of fertile, volcanic soil. There was a large volcano looming behind all the lush paradise, it's explosive fire being trapped under a thick, nearly unmeltable glacier of snow and ice. At the center was a mansion, neatly gardened and dyed a deep vermillion.

Mai approached the main door of the place, gently knocking on it. There wasn't an answer, but it soon came from a nearby tree.

"You again?" Suzaku said from the perch of a tree by the mansion, being in her more elegant yet intimidating bird form. She flew down, trying to tower over the young blonde with intimidation.

"Yes...I-I was j-just here to give you something," Mai nervously spoke up, motioning the scroll towards the fiery bird. Suzaku turned into her more humanoid form with a quick transformation. It was easier to grasp scrolls with thumbs, after all.

Without another word, Suzaku snagged away the scroll from Mai, giving nothing more than a glare before getting to work on opening it up...Mai being able to see the scroll contents from a distance.

The contents of the scroll seemed to be a memory from long ago, so detailed in visual and writing that it was just like being there.. It took place in the same yomakai, just many, if not thousands, of years in the past.

A familiar elder yokai was at the front door of the vermillion mansion, waiting for a response. She seemed to have brought a few things with her to visit the southern ruling Yokai. Opening the door was a pheasant cat Yokai, giving a small bow to the old Yokai.

"Ah Great Tortoise Queen Genbu!" Kijinyan greeted. "You're just in time, they've been expecting your arrival!"

Genbu gave a smile, following the bird cat through the main entrance, down through a few halls and up a few stairs. Several other Kijinyans as well as Yokai of the avian and feline varieties were about, greeting Genbu and tending to the needs of the mansion. The two finally approached a door, the bird cat making a "shh, be quiet" motion with their paws.

The tortoise queen gave a gentle knock, being greeted by yet another feline Yokai, this time more humanoid with more tiger like features. He had snow white hair tipped with a deep black and a look radiating with such confidence he wouldn't flinch if a knife were pointed at him.

"Genbu, goodness I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon," The tiger yokai answered, looking a bit shocked.

"I wasn't either, Byakko," Genbu shrugged, following Byakko further back into the bedroom, keeping herself absolutely quiet. The two had reached to the bed, Byakko laying next to Suzaku who looked...happy? Or at the very least, content? How odd...The vermillion bird seemed to have been looking over something before noticing the arrival of Genbu, a tired look pretty clear in the bird's eyes.

"...But the fact you two are now the proud parents of Yomakai's first twins is a true honor words cannot describe," Genbu finally finished her statement. Suzaku looked at the other beast, tired yet happy.

"Yeah...you said it," Suzaku responded. "They're cute, but goodness what a handful...wasn't expecting that from a singular egg."

"It was such a shock too, even I had to ask if you laid it while holding the egg," Byakko laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

Genbu gently smiled, looking at the two twin yokai resting close to their parents. As mentioned, they were twins, one with black hair with the tiniest hue of blue and the other with very bright vermillion red hair. They had a few feline and avian features, but were fast asleep next to one another so it was hard to get the rest of their features. Even the red haired twin was softly nibbling on his brother's ear.

"They really are cute little things, what did you end up naming them?" Genbu asked, Suzaku preening a little at her wings.

"It was fairly last minute since I'm not good with names, but red one's older and is named Noruka, his younger brother is Soruka," Suzaku answered, Genbu gently picking up both of the twins.

"Noruka and Soruka huh? I like those names quite a bit…" Genbu said softly, Byakko positioning himself in such a manner that made him look quite proud.

"Heh, certainly better and cuter than anything related to that good for nothin' Seiryuu!" Byakko boasted, the feminine beasts silent.

"...Some things don't change, now do they?" Genbu stated, going back with Suzaku to look over the pair of yokai twins.

Once the scroll was closed up, the elder yokai approached the more fiery one, Mai staying behind in case things got bad.

"So you were the one who gave that girl the scroll," Suzaku concluded in a slightly aggressive manner. "Shoulda figured, do you really have faith that I can work with someone?"

"Yes, I do. This girl has a heart that wouldn't hurt a fly, just like your heart," Genbu responded, before pausing for a moment. "Err, at least Noruka and Soruka never got a scratch under your care."

Suzaku sighed, handing the old tortoise back the scroll. "Alright, I'll see if that girl is capable of fighting without my assistance, then I'll consider it. She got lucky for the simple fact that Tamamo no Mae is on par with me."

Suzaku spread open her wings, sending a gust of fiery wind into the lush paradise. "Oi, girl! Come out of hiding and confront me like a real warrior!"

Mai soon came out of hiding, a bit shaken but with a small sliver of hope in her. She had her watch, she had a few Yokai Jewels, she would be able to confront this beast...right? On the opposite end was this foreboding, dangerously powerful yokai, one greatly feared by many...Could she bear to fight such a thing?

Both took a few paces, ready for the right moment to start clashing and fight one another until one was victorious. Genbu watched peacefully from the sidelines, all seemed to be ready to go according to plan until…

"G-Genbu!" The Ungaikyo that brought Mai and her here yelped, in absolute fear. "I-It's an emergency! Something terrible is brewing at the location of the others!"

"Really now?" Genbu asked, even Suzaku coming in to see what all the fuss was.

"Yes! There's a lot of despair-infused yoki being dispelled where they are, and that can't be good!" The Ungaikyo answered hastily with a sense of full on panic.

"Despair yoki?!" Suzaku responded with a raised voice. She then took a stance. "If this is the work of who I think it is, I'll merely watch how the girl can handle her on her own."

"Her name is Mai, you know," Genbu corrected, Suzaku making an audible "tsk".

Soon enough, Mai and company made their way back to the human world. Hopefully she wouldn't fumble against Tamamo no Mae this time, even if she's a deadly yokai...She had friends to save and that was the most important thing.

The location was at Max Ansley World and one of it's many theme parks. This one, the Movie Magic Park, was one that was always changing and updating, keeping up with the latest and hottest films by the Max Ansley company, as well as celebrating the iconic shows. Naturally, many stage shows with high tech effects were the main event, alongside a few rides.

At one of the stage shows based on the hit adventure film Minnesota Sam, the others in Mai's group were observing the show. It was reaching the climax, were Minnesota Sam reached the treasure room of a lost temple, about to retrieve a priceless artifact…A tomb of ancient spells...

"You…" A strange voice said, keeping himself shrouded in the background. "Hand over the book of the ancients…"

Minnesota Sam, thinking this was merely part of the show, played it up a little. "It belongs in an art gallery!"

"...Fine, act that way!" The shrouded figure shouted, stabbing a sword like object that unleashed several colorful snakes made out of solid energy. There was a loud, astonishing shock among the audience.

"Honestly I don't think this was part of the show…" Mao whispered, quite disturbed by the sight.

Naturally, everyone started to flee from the terrifying sight, several of the energy snakes crashing into nearby structures. Even Minnesota Sam yelled in fear at the serpentine beings, the screams of the people radiating with some kind of energy.

"Alright, show yourself you serpentine punk!" Kokoro yelled, jumping on stage with her knuckles cracked. The other three, Shinju, Mao, and Great King Enma hesitantly followed.

Revealing himself out of the shadows was a young teen, blue hair, serpentine eyes, and a scowl gracing his face. "Name's Snake King Kaira, and I'm going to be the one worthy of ruling both the human and yokai worlds! First...I need to pay my rent!"

"That's what you open up with?" Great King Enma asked the snake king.

"Psh, figures you'd get some new friends, Jizou." Kaira scoffed, causing a wave of confusion among the group.

"Jizou…?" Shinju asked confused, only for Great King Enma to face this new foe face to face.

"Never change Kaira, never change," Great King Enma concluded with a shrug, only angering the snake king even more.

"Well, I'll show you who should be running things!" Kaira yelled, unleashing the energy snakes from the ground once more…

Once Mai, Genbu, and Suzaku arrived, things were in chaos. People running, structures falling, several announcements over speaker about an evacuation. Though three in particular stood out to Mai in the rubble.

"Kokoro! Shinju! Mao!" Mai yelled, rushing up to the trio, making sure they were okay to the best of her ability. They seemed a bit tattered, almost if they were thrown off quite the distance. "W-What on earth happened?"

"Some punk...he's taken over a stage show…" Kokoro scoffed.

"And then he threw us...or rather these snakes he summoned did…" Mao answered. "Pretty harshly too…"

"What's the guy's name and where's he at?" Mai asked, clutching her watch. "And where's Great King Enma?"

"Kaira...He's at the Minnesota Sam stage show, and well...Enma's got his hands full…" Shinju finished, Genbu gently approaching the trio as Suzaku seemed to have disappeared among the arrival of the group. The elder yokai simply waved her hand, restoring the three of any slight wounds.

"You three, come with me and help evacuate the park," Genbu stated, the three standing up. Shinju got out the black tortoise emblem she had.

"But before you go after and fight, let me show you this!" Shinju said, posing with the water sacred jewel and next to Genbu.

"Calm as a plain, the north blossoming with life! If you would please come forth, the Black Guardian...Genbu!" Shinju called forth with her emblem in hand, transforming into her combative outfit. Genbu, joining in the fun, decided to transform into her very daunting but still calm and gentle beast form.

"Oh wow, you look really nice Shinju!" Mai complimented, truly stunned that even her friends could pull of the same transformation techniques as she did. But, there was business for her to take care of, right here and right now.

Genbu's group went off to rescue civilians trapped in an otherwise happy and bustling park, helping evacuation go more smoothly.

Once Mai arrived, the fight between Great King Enma and Snake King Kaira was going pretty rough. They were throwing whatever magic they had at eachother, even now getting pretty fist to fist. They had very clearly been very rough to each other, even landing a few bruises and scratches onto one another. Didn't help the stage they were fighting on was full of many props and structures to slam one another into.

A bit struck on what to do, Mai grabbed into her bad, whatever was the first yokai jewel to plop out of the Great Yokai Dictionary would be her partner for the day. The blonde held the jewel, being cyan with trims of gold.

"...You have another gal pal?" Kaira asked in the midsts of the fist to fist brawling, noticing Mai in the back, shyly trying to make her way as she held the jewel.

"Mai!" Great King Enma shouted rather joyfully. "I never thought I'd see you!"

"I'm always here to help a friend in need!" Mai responded, getting ready in her stance. "Because I know something a whole lot bigger than a snake!"

"What?" Kaira questioned, Mai doing her pose and usual speech.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her speech, going through the usual motions. "Legendary Nyororon Nanda Ryuuoh!"

With a quick summoning call and snappy transformation sequence, she donned the threads worn way back when she summoned her first legendary yokai, Nanda Ryuuoh. It still gave her quite the adrenaline, ready to cure one's darkened heart.

Mai and Nanda Ryuu-oh quickly joined on the side of Great King Enma, all three ready to fight.

Kaira didn't seem overwhelmed, merely just confused. "What did you even do?"

"What?" Nanda Ryuuoh began with. "I was just brought here, and I don't know anything about what's going on or who you are."

"Are you serious, I had a loud introduction, you should have heard it! I'm the snake king dang it!" Kaira aggressively gave a response to the dragon king.

"Snake king? What does a snake king do? What are your abilities? Are you actually a snake?" Nanda Ryuuoh asked, Mai and Great King Enma looking at each other.

"...He could be at this for hours...you think we should try and take care of this while Kaira's...frustratedly occupied?" Mai asked, the other nodding.

"Sure thing, we may have not worked together much, but there's a first for everything!" Great King Enma enthusatically finished with, Mai and him starting to take a pose.

"...And finally one of the Snake King's duty is to keep an eye on the Yokai Sangokushi, a powerful tomb possibly containing keys to the end of the world or something if it falls into the wrong hands," Kaira concluded, giving a hefty sigh to Nanda Ryuuoh. "Any more questions?"

"Yes actually!" Nanda Ryuuoh began enthused, Kaira beginning to groan. "If all known laws of aviation are true, how come a bee is still able to fl-"

Before the dragon king could finish his question, Mai grabbed a hold of his hand, Nanda Ryuuoh knowing exactly what to do, even with another yokai in the mix.

"Supreme Blizzard Inferno!" The heroic trio yelled, unleashing a twisting bind of fire and ice. It was not only powerful, but a delightful spectacle to see, two things so different combine in a way that was mesmerizing. It struck quite gracefully...and things seemed to go back to normal but…

"W-Where did Kaira go?" Mai asked, looking all across the stage for him. Alas, the angry teen couldn't be found anywhere.

"Seems he ran off just in time…" Great King Enma concluded as well, looking across the floor. "Didn't seem to leave anything behind either…"

Soon enough, the rest of the gang, minus Suzaku joined back up with Mai and the others.

"Good news!" Shinju stated, still in her combat garb as Genbu's large tortoise form followed behind her. "We've evacuated the whole park! I think we're all in the clear!"

"Well, we did defeat the one behind all this, bad news is he didn't seem to leave behind another sacred jewel…" Mai informed the rest of the group. Genbu craned her head down slightly, noticing someone.

"Perhaps the blonde's friend here knows more than just the location of a sacred jewel," Genbu informed, gently nudging Nanda Ryuuoh with one of her feet.

"What!?" Everyone else in the group yelled in shocked unison. Nanda Ryuuoh rubbed the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

"I uhh...Think my niece might know something or two? It's been ages since I've last visited her properly…" Nanda Ryuuoh started, coming across as a bit sheepish and very on the spot about his situation. Genbu focused her calming gaze at the others.

"Nanda here is actually the great Azure Dragon Seiryuu's younger brother," Genbu began, everyone still rather shocked. "And I do mean way younger, he and Seiryuu's daughter, Otohime, are actually around the same age!"

"So does that mean we're going to have to seek Otohime as soon as possible?" Mao asked.

"Nah we ain't...Of course we are!" Kokoro interjected. "I think it's best we all kinda rest up for tomorrow, things were kinda crazy today."

Soon, each member went off into their separate ways, they had to rest up for the long journey ahead.

Though from afar, Suzaku watched, remaining hidden upon a tall building yet could clearly see everyone.

"It's been a while since I've seen a good fire and ice dual technique…" Suzaku said to herself, getting ready to fly off. "Though, I still hope that girl improves her skills to even get more than a glance from me."

Mai returned back to her resort room, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan waiting for her.

"So how was today in the park?" Nyanmajo asked curiously. "I mean, you kinda went off your own way when you met with Mao…"

"It's gonna be a long trip, I can tell you that much," Mai sheepishly said.

"Do you want to get a spa treatment to relax yourself a little?" Sailornyan asked. "Me and Nyanmajo did a coup-I mean duo massage, it was so relaxing!"

The three chatted it up a bit more, talking about relaxing up and maybe getting a few snacks. A long, crazy ride was beginning, starting today in the west, and tomorrow would unfold in the east.


	4. Tale 4: Deep Seas of Azure Ahead

**Tale 4: Deep Seas of Azure Ahead!**

Tamamo no Mae had brought together her accomplices once more, in her lair within an unknown, dark yomakai. In her possession were several sealed up bottles of a powerful dark energy, her paw-like hands grasping them firmly.

"Excellent work Kaira my boy, very excellent work indeed," Tamamo no Mae praised the boy, overlooking the bottles. "The amount of despair yoki you've managed to retrieve from that park is excellent!"

Tamamo no Mae opened the jars, seeming to absorb all the yoki into her very being. She gave a sinister grin. "I feel my power slowly coming back, I can probably get away with a big transformation and a little something extra too!"

"Extra?" Kaira asked, as Tamamo no Mae snapped her fingers, Wani knowing exactly what she meant. Soon enough, Wani came back with three cages with two yokai.

"You see my boy, my powers are strongly based on despair yoki from other's suffering, it allows me to shapeshift into more than just regular animals, as well as perform some much powerful magic…" Tamamo no Mae informed, stepping by the cages with her usual grin. "After some studying and regaining more power, I can finally perform something a little special with these...lovely yokai…"

"Ay who you callin' lovely?" A rebellious green lizard yokai yelled, trying to break free from the magic barrier.

"You'll pay for this, you old witch!" A shimmering diamond coated cat yokai with a hissed, quite displeased with Tamamo no Mae trapping him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but doesn't something feel a bit off from the equation here?" Jami pointed out at the setup. Tamamo no Mae sighed.

"Listen, I can't be perfect with certain equations, I couldn't get my hands on this "Jibanyan" yokai," Tamamo no Mae sighed, pinching the bridge of her snout before clasping her hands. "But, with my superior magic, I should be able to still make this work."

The powerful fox yokai clasped her hands, before she sent two bolts of violet-pink lightning that struck both of the contained yokai. There was a lot of violet hued smoke, covering the scene. Once it all calmed down, there was a single yokai in the third and center cage.

"Dianyan? Gurerurin? Never heard of em," The new yokai began to say, taking the form of a slightly metallic purple cat yokai with a serious attitude, shades and squatting and all. "I'm Warunyan of the Pretty tribe, the most stone cold rebel!"

"Excellent, so it did work!" Tamamo no Mae shouted with glee, before getting a serious look in her foxy complexion. "Wani!"

"Yes ma'am?" The large gator dragon yokai Wani asked his boss.

"Let Warunyan go, somewhere outside of here," Tamamo no Mae ordered. "I don't like cute things cluttering up my workplace."

"Of course, I'll take care of that right away!" Wani did as instructed, taking the cage with the rebellious feline outside. Tamamo no Mae focused her gaze on Kaira.

"You on the other hand, you'll be assisting me and Wani in another operation for not only more despair yoki…" Tamamo no Mae began to plan out. "But to get us one step closer to our goal…"

Tamamo no Mae clasped her hands before turning her back away. "I'll give more details tomorrow, for now you must be quite tired. Those pests must have really worn you out, haven't they?"

As instructed, Kaira went back into his quarters, a bit confused. He was undeniably tired, yes, but he couldn't shake off this particular feeling.

Even though Tamamo no Mae was treating him well, there was a different synergy she had with Wani and Jami. A very specific kind of synergy that would be great for not only scheming, but singing songs about how great and utter geniuses all three of them were, maybe even really wanting an ancient artifact.

Perhaps it was the hard reality that despite being treated kindly, he still could never fit in even if he tried. But, he was used to it, far too used to it, so Kaira had no idea why he constantly felt upset about the ordeal...Maybe getting sleep would help…

However, once asleep, there was not a dream, but rather, a recollection of a memory of the past.

Nor was it a particularly pleasant one. It was a few months prior, before Kaira was imprisoned by his own people...The young man recalled being by the side of his mother who wasn't doing so well. She was a part humanoid, part snake yokai with a white and blue lower body and a gentle, calming gaze with her carmine eyes.

"Kaira…" The boy's mother weakly said, putting her fin like hand on the boy's face. Kaira was trying his hardest to stay strong, last thing his mom wanted to see was him crying. Regardless, he did his best to keep himself strong.

"You are the snake king, strong, noble, and capable…" Kaira's mom weakly began to say for her final words. "I will always keep a steady eye on you, from the divine heaven…Please keep fighting with a strong yet noble heart...my child..."

Kaira's mom coughed a bit, gasping for air until her coughing fit finally settled.

"I love you very much...please never forget that…You're the most important thing in the world to me..." Kaira's mom finally finished, smiling gently at her son.

Within moments, Kaira had felt the hand of his mother leave his face and return to her side, where it would remain motionless before she slowly faded away…

That concludes that memory, or at least the part to be recalled for the night...

Elsewhere in the early morning, within the walls of the great palace of Yomakai, the ever so energetic Great King Enma was getting ready to head out, even in his entire human disguise and everything to not shock too many yokai. He was ready to go right then and there, he would arrive right before Mai and the others would even think!

Unaware of how fate had things planned, alongside not exactly being the most quiet yokai, someone had stopped the young king right in his literal running down the hall.

"You're going out aren't you?" Yami asked the child rather firmly enough to send just the slightest yet still heart stopping chill.

"Listen, mom, I've already explained that this might lead to bigger issues if they aren't dealt with now, and especially by me directly," Great King Enma tried to reason, getting just the slightest bit hot headed. "Kaira's with one of the most evil yokai ever known now, they both need to be stopped.

Yami paused for a moment before lifting up the boy's left arm and pulling back his long shirt sleeve. Underneath, his rough fighting with Kaira was still quite evident with bruises and slightly healed cuts remaining as a constant reminder.

"If this was the kind of damage supposedly only Kaira did to you…" Yami began, slowly sounding more uneasy with each word. "...I can't even begin to think what someone as dangerous as one of the most evil yokai in the entire world could do to you."

"Don't worry, I'm strong enough to handle it, you don't gotta worry so much!" Great King Enma attempted to plead with, Yami adjusting her gaze to something much more serious, even if her eyes were already beginning to mist…

"Great King Enma...no...Jizou...you are the king of the yokai world, but you are also my child first and foremost," Yami began, her voice becoming more heavy and serious. "I...I already lost you once. All of the Yokai World wept over your loss...but there was one who cried the loudest among them…"

It became fully realized to the young king what his mother was meaning. Even if it had been several months since his return and nearly two years since he "died", some pain never truly heals completely. Some memories stick with oneself no matter what, both good and bad…

"I...I understand…" Great King Enma finally concluded, agreeing to stay for the day.

"So, Enma isn't coming along, is he?" Mai asked, sitting with Kokoro, Shinju, and Mao at a table enjoying a casual lunch at her resort. Nyanmajo and Sailornyan were a bit preoccupied, looking over at a nearby shop selling various pieces of merchandise.

"Yeah, which is a shame, we dunno what kind of dangers are gonna follow us," Kokoro answered, taking a sip of a chocolate shake, garnished with whipped cream and colorful candies. "But good news is that I'm a yokai princess so I can kinda fill the shoes, maybe?"

"You're a princess?" Mao asked curiously, Kokoro simply nodding.

"Yep kid, long story short, but due to an uprising a long time ago all the kids of previous Enma had to hide in various Yomakai and even the human world," Kokoro answered. "At least that's what I was told."

Mao paused to think in deep thought, quite intrigued by what he was told. Who knew such a rough yet soft girl like Kokoro could be a princess, she seemed like a stark contrast.

"Either way, the four of us should be okay with going to Otohime's place right?" Shinju tried to reassure everyone. "Yeah we don't have Enma with us, but we're still pretty capable."

"I think we're all ready," Kokoro began, standing up. "You ready Mai?"

Unknown to the others, Mai briefly got up over to the merchandise vendor that was keeping Nyanmajo and Sailornyan so occupied. She was still able to hear her friends, letting out a rather loud "Yeah! Just give me a moment!" for her usual standard.

"We're going already?" Sailornyan asked, looking over at Nyanmajo struggling to get to the top of the check out register. "Let us at least buy our commemorative souvenir vacation sunglasses, first!"

"You spent that long choosing sunglasses?" Mai asked, a bit puzzled. Despite how many times she's gone through changes of clothes, the blonde was never really the fashionista type.

"Listen it was hard to decide if me and Nyanmajo should go with matching Casey and Carol Cat sunglasses or Ernie and Elena Eagle sunglasses," Sailornyan explained. "Plus there were a lot of shirts and other accessories, we gotta doll up on vacation you know!"

After patiently waiting for her feline friends to get their merchandise, Mai returned to the table her friends were at. She had already prepared, getting out a pink Yokai Jewel laced with gold and holding it near her watch to do the usual hand motions.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, doing her usual hand motions. "Legendary Pretty Otohime!"

One summoning and transformation sequence later, Mai had not only gotten threads based on the sea princess, but called forth Otohime herself. Though, something was a bit different.

"Mama, who are these people?" A tiny yokai peeped up, sitting on Otohime's lap. He looked very tiny, barely making it past the three foot height mark. Half of his little face was covered by deep teal hair, tied neatly in a ponytail with a seastar themed crown. His visible yellow eye lightened up with curiosity, a scarf made of aqua blue aura covering his mouth, which seemed to lead to two sea dragon themed heads, smiling for the prince in his large overcoat. Around his neck was a necklace with an aqua jewel around it.

"Miss Otohime you never told us, you...you know…" Shinju commented, trying to keep her remarks more safe for younger ears.

"Oh I don't believe you've been introduced to him yet," Otohime began gently, nudging the small yokai child gently. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The tiny child yokai's eyes lit up. "I'm Umioji Orochi, prince of Ryuu-guujo!"

"You have a son!?" Mai gasped in shock, utterly floored that one of her own yokai friends had a child of her own.

Umioji Orochi seemed to somewhat recognize the group, well, Mai at least. "Oh! Uncle Nanda told me about you! When mama was gone for a trip...right?"

"From my past readings of youkai lore, isn't Orochi like this...really moody, really scary, eight headed serpentine dude who takes no mercy?" Kokoro asked a bit confused that Orochi would take the form of a bright eyed child.

"It's...complicated and it'll probably be best to explain on the way," Otohime informed gently. "Nanda has already informed me of yesterday's events, though I wasn't sure when I would be summoned."

Within moments, a familiar aide came to the side of the ocean princess. Well, familiar to at least some of the group.

"Ryujin!" Shinju yelled in glee, shocked to see the dragon yokai once more. "You work for Otohime?"

"Oh you, and your friends as well!" Ryujin greeted, floating by the side of the royal duo. "And well, yes, lady Otohime rules not only over marine life and marine yokai, but dragons as well. Plus my father was formerly an aide of hers. But enough from me, let's get going now!"

The gang all got on the back of the large reptile, or at least valiantly attempted to.

"I believe it'll be...extremely difficult for me to take off with all of you at once for the distance we're going," Ryuujin admitted. "A bit too much for comfort…"

The group looked around at each other, deciding who would go and who would stay. Tamamo no Mae was always on the prowl, so who knew if she would appear in the yokai world or the human world.

"Mai, Kokoro, I think it might be best if you two went with Otohime," Mao suggested, both girls in question looking at each other.

"What? You sure kid, you don't got anything fishy planned do you?" Kokoro asked, twinging her face briefly at the realization she made an unintended pun.

"No, no! I-I just think it's best since Mai has the power of the watch and you're a princess yourself…" Mao responded a bit frightened at the teen's slight aggressive tone.

"Well, I do know if anything suspicious happens we'll give you a call," Shinju stated, wrapping things up. "We can probably visit some other time when the stakes don't involve some fox witch of evil intentions."

"Right, we'll see you soon!" Mai waved, getting on with Kokoro on the back of Ryuujin. It was oddly nostalgic to be just Mai and Kokoro on this, it seemed they've come so far since then.

"Take care!" Nyanmajo shouted to the flying off dragon, wishing a safe trip for the group.

It seemed like it was going to be a long ride, so much that tiny Umioji Orochi nodded off to sleep in his mother's lap, clinging onto her right arm.

"You see, several yokai like the aforementioned Orochi have various...well, variants?" Otohime explained in her usual gentle tone. "Some yokai call themselves Orochi, but came about differently, like being a boy who fought a powerful monster or a formerly dangerous serpent…"

"So what about Umioji Orochi?" Mai asked, Otohime looking a bit distant.

"Long story, but a few years ago I confronted a horrifying sea monster known as Ugayafukiaezu and after a grueling battle I won but as I was about to head back to base, I noticed something moving…" Otohime continued to explain, gently petting the child's head. "...That being a tiny, sickly infant, I couldn't just leave him there…My heart couldn't handle it..."

"And that's where that kiddo came from? A corpse of a sea monster?" Kokoro asked, pointing to the sleeping Umioji Orochi, Otohime nodding in response.

As the ride to Ryuu-guujo progressed, Kokoro couldn't help but notice out of everyone, Umioji Orochi's shadow was moving kind of strangely. Must be the ocean waters, but it was odd…

Soon enough, everyone had arrived safely at Ryuu-guujo. Due to the nature of such a place, everyone was perfectly dry yet felt somewhat lower gravity...the undersea was strange. Waiting at the palace gates were once again, some familiar faces.

"Oh! Nanda-Ryuuoh! Yao Bikuni!" Mai waved, hopping off of Ryuujin to greet the two, even if she tripped due to strange gravity. "...Ow…"

"I wasn't expecting to be seeing you so soon, Mai," Yao Bikuni greeted, helping Mai up. "But when Otohime heard you were coming over, I couldn't help but see you. It's been a long while…"

Noticing the crowd gathering of visitors and her sleeping tyke, Otohime looked around. "Oh dear...if I'll be required in trying to find my father, who will watch the young prince? I can't let any danger come to him…"

Everyone looked around at one another, but one stepped up out of the rest.

"Don't worry your majesty," Kokoro began, holding out her arms. "I'll watch the little guy."

Everyone looked just a little bit shocked.

"Are you positive that you can?" Yao Bikuni questioned, a little confused that someone so aggressive looking could take care of a child.

"Nobody will mess with me besides, I can take a lot. That and I've taken care of a cat who naps a lot so this won't be much different," Kokoro answered back, her arms still reaching out.

"I see, please take him to his personal quarters and keep an eye on him until the others and I can return safely," Otohime instructed, handing over the sleeping prince to the aggressive but well meaning teen.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kokoro was already in the palace and found the prince's quarters. It was much more like a large mansion as opposed to the enormous castle she hailed from, so it was easy to navigate. The room itself reflected the mansion's very sea based decor, several parts made from seashells and coral. Everything else was fairly normal for a child's room: a few bookshelves with children's books, many toys, especially in terms of soft, plush animals, all with a regal yet innocent flair. Heck it didn't seem like that all that long ago it was a nursery...then again Umioji Orochi was still very young if he still had daily naps…

It took well under five minutes for Kokoro to tuck Umioji Orochi into bed and made sure he had one of his plush animals, a dolphin in this case, by his side. All she could really do was sit in an armchair until he woke up and needed something.

"Well, now what?" Kokoro whispered to herself, trying to figure out what to do. She had her phone yes, but dodgy phone service was something she wasn't going to deal with, nor did she really want to ask about if there was wi-fi...

As Kokoro was biding her time, she noticed something moving in the shadows, and it wasn't her own shadow. It seemed to get bigger and bigger, the room being slowly being covered by a dark force. Worse yet, it felt pretty powerful. Peering into the closet the rough teen found something, a simple toy hammer, that hopefully she could use to fend herself with.

"...Turn Back, intruder…" A dark, shadowy voice crackly whispered, sounding dry yet intimidating. It left a shiver down Kokoro's spine, but she wasn't gonna let this bother her. She gripped that small toy hammer with her life.

"Like all heck I'm going to let you lay a finger on the prince here!" Kokoro harshly whispered, trying to keep her voice low.

Doing as prompted, the evil shadowy entity appeared from the darkness. He took the form of quite the tall yokai, easily towering over Kokoro. He looked like an Orochi alright, but with grey skin, snow white hair, and a glaring red eye. Donning teal and blue robes that fit him with slight bits of silver armor, he had a large scarf of shadow black dragons that were not only very large and intimidating, but very angry. He folded his arms, bony, clawed fingers being visible.

"I showed myself, now go before I make you leave myself…" The shadowy Orochi greeted with. Kokoro taking a stance.

"Just who are you anyways? You better not be one of Tamamo no Mae's goons or else I'll whoop you real good!" Kokoro snapped back, still keeping her tone in a hushed whisper.

"I'm Shinkai Orochi, shadow of the deep sea," Shinkai Orochi introduced himself, the large aggressive dragon heads beginning to snarl.

Not taking any chances with letting this guy hurt the pure and innocent Umioji Orochi, Kokoro went right at him with a strong jump and a good "thwack!" from the hammer. Well, more of a loud squeak, followed by more rapid squeaks.

Needless to say, Shinkai Orochi was not amused in the slightest. He looked about ready to tear Kokoro into two but one thing stopped the two from going into a full on brawl.

"Mmmnghh...Shishi, what's wrong?" Umioji Orochi asked with a slight yawn as he got up. "I'm up from my nap if you wanted to play…"

"Y-Your highness, the upper most apologies…" Shinkai Orochi apologized with a slight bow. Kokoro put down the hammer as she put her other hand to the side.

"So you're lil princey's bodyguard?" Kokoro asked, the shadowy snake yokai nodding.

"Indeed, I've been making sure he never gets hurt, for as long as I can remember…" Shinkai Orochi introduced. "Though even after almost four years...I've never really properly introduced myself to the prince's mother or the rest of the personnel..."

"Gotcha, I totally get you, I ain't very sociable either," Kokoro responded with. "Sorry for hitting you with the lil hammer."

Umioji Orochi sat up, having stretched a little to get up. "Good! You two've made up. Now promise me you two won't fight, since you're my brother and she's a friend okay?"

"Yes your highness, I promise I won't get into a fight with...ermm…" Shinkai Orochi responded with in the most formal way possible.

"Kokoro Yukimura," Kokoro introduced simply. "Didn't know if you caught it but, that's me."

"I see, his highness Nanda Ryuu-oh spoke of you and especially your friend Mai," Shinkai Orochi responded with, noticing he was being tugged on by the young prince.

"We can play now right, right?" Umioji Orochi asked, the pure innocence in his eyes being something hard to refuse.

"Yes, though let's keep it confined to here, as it's by your mother's request as not to get hurt," Shinkai Orochi finished, the trio plotting out for a good time in the child's room.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the undersea mansion, Otohime had gathered Mai, Yao Bikuni, and Nanda Ryuu-oh in a central meeting room. There were a few scrolls spread out on the table, everyone looking things over.

"It seems awakening Seiryuu is going to be a lot harder than we all thought…" Mai commented on the matters.

"You can say that again, most of the hints he left behind are downright cryptic…" Nanda Ryuu-oh added in. "I'm asking way more questions than usual!"

"I'm not even sure what lord Seiryuu means by he'll 'only awaken when the deep sea experiences a great storm, and then lightning will bring be back forth', do storms even effect the deepest parts of the sea?" Yao Bikuni asked, pondering about the papers.

"I think there might be something in an underground chamber but breaking the seal itself is well…" Otohime started to conclude with a deep sigh. "...Cryptic and tricky in itself…"

"Surely he must have left something behind in all this, right?" Mai asked, trying her best to analyze with all the others. Protector of many she may be, but puzzles and cryptic clues were far from her forte. A whimsical, top hat wearing professor she was not.

Before the deciphering could continue, there was a loud, disturbing noise from outside.

"Good heavens what was that!?" Otohime asked, looking around. Everyone rushed to the source of the noise, happening in the front courtyard. Once they arrived, there was a very unpleasant surprise.

"Well," A familiar sinister voice said, coming from a black hammerhead shark with piercing hot pink eyes. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, girlie."

Being quick to reveal herself, the hammerhead shark turned out to be none other than Tamamo no Mae, a sinister grin plastering her face as usual.

"You won't take another step, you won't hurt anyone because we're all in this together!" Otohime said back in the most gentle yet aggressive way possible, Tamamo no Mae's grin getting somehow, even more sinister.

"That's just peachy, you have your own little friends, well, I didn't come alone either…" Tamamo no Mae began, snapping her fingers. "Wani! Kaira! Come forth!"

On cue, the aforementioned yokai came to join by the side of Tamamo no Mae. "Now, boys, let's give these idiots a chance to revel in despair for once!"

"As you wish," Kiara responded, getting out his sword.

"Yes ma'am, right away!" Wani finished, balling and hitting his fists together.

The three split off into different groups after parts of the party: Kaira going after Yao Bikuni, Wani chasing Mai and Otohime, and finally Tamamo no Mae pursuing Nanda-Ryuuoh all on his own.

The utter chaos didn't limit itself to the front lawn, Kokoro, Umioji Orochi, and Shinkai Orochi noticing part of the fight was starting to get dangerously close…

"...Mama?" Umioji Orochi asked, glancing out of a window briefly. Outside, it was clear Otohime and Mai were trying their best to fare against the brute yokai Wani, him not having a care for much of the property. Kokoro's face got rather shocked looking.

"Kiddo, I hope you don't mind piggybacking for a bit," Kokoro began, the tiny prince looking a bit worried. "Since I think we're going to have to…"

There was a loud crashing sound at a nearby room a hall down, presumably Wani having thrown something or someone through the wall.

"Yeah we're running, hang on kid!" Kokoro panickedly yelped, the tiny sea prince jumping on the back of the teen, clinging for his life. Shinkai Orochi followed, but in the shadows naturally, as the three of them ran for their lives. Last thing Kokoro wanted was to see such a sweet kid get hurt...

The three kept running, trying their hardest to find any kind of safer ground. Through a rushed panic, the three ended up going into the basement...or at least they thought. It had a bit of a tight door, but wasn't anything Kokoro couldn't open with a bit of force and help from Shinkai Orochi.

Once in the mysterious basement, it wasn't anything like a typical basement, being much more nicely kept, clean, and not full of musty old storage. It seemed almost divine with carvings of sea life as well as one peculiar carving.

This carving was an awful lot like the art piece Mai saw at the Library, depicting a vermillion peafowl, an azure dragon, a white tiger, and a black tortoise all facing against some kind of dark entity. But here, the entity was a lot more clearer, being some horrifying yokai with sharp talons, wings, and horns. Around it, it was spreading harsh storms, tidal waves rising, diseases spreading, and even volcanoes erupting…

But in the center of the room was a state of a large, great dragon, his expression stern and wise. In front of him was a small pedestal with a strange azure emblem within it. Kokoro tried to grab for it, but it was stuck in there…

"Woah...this...this is something…" Kokoro commented, looking around. Umioji Orochi looked around as well, not daring to get off her back. Shinkai Orochi emerged briefly from the shadows to look around as well.

"This place is quite calm, but it does seem to be a place honoring the former ruler of the seas, Seiryuu…" Shinkai Orochi commented.

"Oh mama's papa and my grandpa!" Umioji Orochi concluded, before getting a bit quiet. "I never got to know him though...Does he just not like me or did something really bad happen? I've only heard mama talk about him..."

"No, I believe he merely sealed himself away a very, very long time ago after a particular incident…" Shinkai Orochi informed, putting his hand on his scarf in deep thought. "That incident being over 6,000 years ago…"

Before any more thoughts could be thought or another word spoken, the door to the underground altar broke open. Standing in the doorway was none other than Wani, a smug look on the large yokai's crocodilian face.

"Well well well, looks like someone is snoopin' around here!" Wani greeted with, giving a loud laugh. "Those other girls were a pain, but I'll...I'll get rid of you!"

"No you won't, not on my watch!" Shinkai Orochi shouted, lunging after the aggressive crocodile yokai. One of his large dragon heads started to pull on Wani's arm, in an effort to see if he could be tossed. But Wani didn't seem to react to being bitten, following up with a punch square in Shinkai Orochi's jaw. The dark sea snake was knocked over pretty hard, but not giving up his fight, no matter how many times Wani would punch him.

Umioji Orochi on the other hand, couldn't bear to look. It was clear on the poor child's face he was very distressed.

"F-first that meanie hurt mama...n-now big brother Shishi…" Umioji Orochi started to cry. "I don't like this! I don't like this at all!"

The visible upsetness in the prince's heart seemed to reveal something as the jewel around his necklace began to glow before it opened up. What was really inside was one of the ever so crystal clear Scared Jewels, having solid azure lines meaning "Thunder". The jewel gently was placed into Kokoro's hand, the teen knowing rather instinctively what to do now.

Kokoro went over to the pedestal with the azure trinket, inserting the jewel within it. Once the jewel was inserted, the emblem was free, being distinct with a dragon motif. With the emblem in hand, words began to flow through the teen's mind.

"The mind of the deep and near infinite ocean, let the eastern waves strike! If you would please come forth, the Azure Guardian...Seiryuu!" Kokoro shouted, a bright azure blue light flooding the room. Not only did she feel a flow of power in her heart, but something else joining with her as well.

Once the light died down, Kokoro stood wearing some new threads in the form of a light azure wushu uniform with short sleeves and generally meant to be more masculine. A few dragon themed details were throughout, complete with a hairclip and even a dragon themed nine section whip.

By her side was none other than the Azure Dragon himself, Seiryuu. It seemed the statue of him had come to life, his light blue scales shining as he held onto a yellow orb in one of his claw like hands. His eyes gave the same stern yet wise look.

"So, it seems you were the one who awakened me…" Seiryuu commented. "Not what I expected, but I'll accept fate nor will I judge."

"Yep, now we got that pain in the butt to deal with," Kokoro responded, pointing to Wani as she held onto the nine section whip. "And I just know how to do so."

First was getting the attention of the large crocodile with a large cracking of the whip, leaving the Orochis with each other as a result. "Oi! Big and ugly, come over here and let's fight!"

"Ya serious, me against the ol' boss? How about no!" Wani yelped, running off out of the underground chamber.

"Get back here you weak coward!" Kokoro shouted, nudging Seiryuu to follow her.

"Should we think about planning this out?" Seiryuu commented, Kokoro looking back slightly.

"Yeah, try to think of something, I got a giant croc to pursue!" Kokoro yelled, attempting to get onto the dragon's back. "Mind if I hitch a ride?"

"I mean, I'll think of something as we give chase…" Seiryuu finished, letting the rough girl indeed, get a ride on his back.

The two ended up giving chase to Wani, making sure not much was damaged in the process. A few cracks of the whip but after some practice, it was enough to trip up the crocodile in the back courtyard. Though...She had to wonder where Mai and Otohime went…

"Alright, we got you Wani!" Kokoro yelled, getting off Seiryuu's back as she was even more hot headed than usual.

Wani got up a little, crossing his arms. "I think there's bigger fish for you to fry!"

"What in the seven seas do you mean by that?" Seiryuu asked, giving a glare.

Soon, they got their answer in the form of a Colossal Squid, ash black and monstrous in a much larger size.

"I do not kid when I say this, but this form is quite appealing!" Tamamo no Mae cackled, floating around as said giant monster squid. "I'll campaign for absolute destruction and despair!"

Two figures stood in front of the large squid, trying to face off against her and her terrifying squid form.

"We aren't backing down, Tamamo!" Mai said, clearly being a little rough around the edges from fighting alongside Otohime. Though, the latter did the best to patch her up with her healing abilities.

"Oi! Mai, if you keep pushing yourself like this, you're going to be just as impulsive as me!" Kokoro shouted, joining up with her blonde friend. Otohime and Mai were just as shocked to see her with Seiryuu.

"Father!? You've been awakened!?" Otohime gasped aloud.

"You summoned Seiryuu!?" Mai added into the shock. Kokoro rubbed the back of her head.

"Long story, but I think we can explain it all later," Kokoro tried to get everyone together. "Right now, we got that squid that won't kid around to deal with!"

In the midsts of the chaos, Seiryuu kept a calm look on his face. "I believe I have an effective strategy for getting rid of those fiends…"

Seiryuu kept his gaze focused as he explained his plan. "What we need to do is combine our strengths in our hearts by creating a vortex of our abilities…"

As if Seiryuu's plan was making sense, something sparked in Mai's head. She reached out her hands.

"Everyone, let's hold our hands together!" Mai suggested, everyone prompting to do so until they formed a circle as they held hands. Tamamo no Mae looked a bit surprised.

"Oh come on! Trying to do some kind of spiritual bomb when I haven't even done anything!?" Tamamo no Mae yelled, huffing up in squid form. "I'll show you the real way of fighting dirty!"

In a fit of anger, Tamamo no Mae adjusted herself, squirting a large cloud of ink. To the quartet facing off against the squid, it threw them off guard.

"...You know, I don't know what I was expecting…" Mai commented on the matters, trying to see clearly despite the cloud of black ink.

Wani didn't dare question the tactics of his own boss, but he couldn't help but be a bit dumbfounded at the choice. She turned into this giant squid just to squirt ink…

Regardless, the four still held their hands together and were able to still have the power of heart flow through them. It was just a gable whether or not it would strike the large squid due to the ink covering their visions.

"Should we even risk it?" Otohime asked. "We might not be able to hit our target!"

"I think it might be alright, we just have to believe, especially in these dark times," Mai reassured, taking a deep breath. A flowing of power went through her and Otohime's hearts, a jewel glowing bright pink.

"Shining and Deep Submerging Dragon Palace Hospitality!" Mai and Otohime yelled in unison, performing a spectacular and sparkling wave of dazzling energy. It was able to hit Wani and Tamamo no Mae, and not only that, but clear the cloud of ink.

"Argh! I hate this cutesy sparkly-" Wani tried to say, only for the loud "thud!" of Tamamo no Mae in squid form of catch him off guard. "Boss!"

"Oh trust me Wani…" Tamamo no Mae muttered, being quite dazed. "I too hate that cutesy nonsense, more than anyone!"

Taking note of them both being down, Kokoro held the nine section whip in a tight grip, ready to fight. "Alright, let's finish this off!"

Feeling a flow of power from not only Mai and Otohime, but Seiryuu as well, Kokoro posed with the majestic dragon, ready to strike.

"Now, let's do this! Tsunami Dragon Breaker!" Kokoro yelled, lunging with Seiryuu at the colossal squid Tamamo no Mae took form of.

"Boss, look out!" Wani yelled, leaping in front of the charge the azure dragon was taking at his boss.

The result was a large explosive attack of azure lightning and ocean water, the impact being extremely powerful. Much is to be expected from a Holy Beast yokai, but still, quite the destructive spectacle to be seen.

After things settled, all that was left was Tamamo no Mae, back into her normal state. In her eyes was a bit of legit shock.

"W-Wani!?" Tamamo no Mae asked, looking around a bit worried. She then adjusted her gaze to be back to her usual menacing look.

"...I won't forget this, and I will make you pay for what you've done today…" Tamamo no Mae hissed lowly, disappearing with a puff of violet smoke.

During the fight between the others, Kaira was busy pursuing against Yao Bikuni. He was also tasked to find Nanda-Ryuuoh, but who knew where that nosy dragon went. Plus the less he has to hear about the aviation of bees, the better.

It seemed Kaira had finally cornered Yao Bikuni, his sword ready to slice the mermaid to ribbons. Though when the mermaid spoke, it caught Kaira off guard.

"You're...You're…" Yao Bikuni began to say, legitimately shocked at what she was seeing. "You're Snake Queen Pardmavati's child!"

Kaira put down his sword, shocked at what Yao Bikuni was telling him. "You knew my mother, and me, apparently...But how? I don't even know you!"

"Well, you've grown up a lot, that much I can tell…" Yao Bikuni stated, trying to remain calm since it was clear Kaira was still pretty tense. "It's been an awfully long time since I've last seen you...ten years I want to say?"

The snake king cooled his jets, by becoming a bit quiet. It was a while before he finally spoke. "Please, tell me more about your relationship to my mother...and how you're able to recognize me!"

"I understand, I will tell you, your highness," Yao Bikuni finished, taking a deep sigh as she slowly began to explain everything…

A long time ago, a pair of yokai were sitting around quite worried. One was Yao Bikuni, the other was the aforementioned Raja Naga, Pardmavati, who was gently overlooking a small nest with five eggs.

"I've summoned you forth since well, I think I have a problem…" Pardmavati began to speak, looking rather worried as her tail flicked nervously. "My eggs...it's been about a week and a half since they were supposed to hatch…"

Yao Bikuni inspected the best of eggs. It was clear Pardmavati was taking the best care possible, being kept warm and clean. However, there was something shocking she soon learned by merely inspecting one.

The egg seemed to completely shatter in the yellow mermaid's hand upon being held...and with was...nothing. Not a single thing inside, no traces, nothing.

Pardmavati was silent at such a sight. All that time of making sure they were incubated, clean, and likely to hatch resulted in such a sight. She looked completely heartbroken, looking down at the nest with a worried look.

"Please...please tell me one of them survived, any of them…" Pardmavati requested shakily. Her heart felt heavy, unable to speak in a composed manner.

Going around the nest, Yao Bikuni kept inspecting the eggs...but kept getting the same results. Second egg, shattered instantly with nothing.

Third egg, instantly shattered, nothing.

Fourth egg, broke apart instantaneously, an empty dream within.

Yao Bikuni could not feel all the pain and doubt her heart that the snake Yokai did. No traces of any souls could be found around the eggs, so they truly were empty. Pardmavati looked devastated beyond belief, lying close to the floor with her face flushed red from rubbing her eyes…

"Why did the one I have to fall in love with be a human man? Had I not why...I could have actually had a family…" Pardmavati went on, verbally beating herself up. "Hanyous...why must they be cursed like this?"

Yao Bikuni gave a sigh of reassurance, gently patting the snake queen on the back. "I don't know your majesty...I'm beyond sorry that this happened...and to you of all the Yokai out there…"

"Thank you dearly...but at the same time…" Padmavati continued, trying to stay audible despite her sobbing. "...I wish fate didn't make me fall for a human man...or that hanyous are more likely to survive…"

"It isn't your fault, it isn't your fault…" Yao Bikuni gently reassured the snake queen.

A long, dreary pause was between the two, giving them a moment to mourn. It was unlikely the last egg would be any different than the rest until…

The fifth and final egg started moving a little, until an audible tiny crack could be heard. Both of the Yokai women's hearts skipped a beat or two just then.

Another crack could be heard, both ladies gathering around the egg. Pardmavati got a nearby blanket, Yao Bikuni inspecting the egg as it hatched, a single arm poking out. Muffled crying could be heard, lightening the heart of the snake queen.

"They...they're crying! They're alive!" Pardmavati cried, this time out of pure joy.

The mermaid yokai got to work freeing the newborn from it's eggshell, gently peeling it away so she could pick him up. Upon inspection, they looked like they had cobalt blue hair and patches of white and blue scales among their legs and chest, matching that of their mother's snake like lower half.

They kept on crying, reassuring Pardmavati that they were alive and well, though they calmed down a little once they were wrapped up in a blanket.

"Congratulations, your majesty!" Yao Bikuni cheered happily, looking at the child as well. "He's pretty cute, I'm sure he's going to grow up into a fine king!"

Pardmavati closed her eyes gently, smiling with a few happy tears around her eyes. "I'm sure of it as well…"

The snake queen held her newborn closer to her, seeming to whisper something into his ear. "It won't matter if you're yokai or man, or something in between...I know you'll do great things and I cherish you more than anything in the world…"

"Mom…" Kaira muttered, trying not to cry, but he was finding it incredibly hard not to. He felt his heart getting more tender, upon realizing why his mother cared about him more than anything, even risking her own health for him…

Yao Bikuni gave a gentle pat onto the back of Kaira. "I know your mother loved you very much...I don't know why I ended up growing so distant but I always wanted to visit you and your mother again…"

Kaira was quiet again, crying into the shoulder of the mermaid. He was inaudible, but Yao Bikuni seemed to understand the hardness the young king was going through…

"I...I had recently heard about the news of your mother and I'm...I'm really sorry, your highness…" Yao Bikuni reassured, giving her deepest and honest apologies to the snake king. "But...there's one thing I want to give you…"

Yao Bikuni somehow was carrying something, a small locket in a light gold with aquamarine gemstones, the crest of the snake kings embellished onto it. "I somehow knew we would meet again one day...and your mother wanted me to give this to you when the time was right."

Kaira took the locket, shakily holding it into his hands. He nodded, drying up his face a bit and slowly recompose himself. "T...Thank you very much, I'll protect this…"

Noticing a dark aura nearby, Kaira slowly began walking out, putting the locket away in a safe part of his robe, thanking the mermaid under his breath. He kept it close, it was the closest thing he had to his mother after all…

Waiting for him outside was a very displeased looking Tamamo no Mae. She looked a bit somber, yet tried to keep her sinister look. She looked at Kaira dead in the eyes.

"So what's the long face for?" Tamamo no Mae asked. Kaira shrugged it off.

"It's nothing…" Kaira grumbled, trying to hide the face he broke down crying.

"I see...we're going to head back and start from square one…" Tamamo no Mae responded, taking Kaira with her.

Back with Yao Bikuni, she didn't have much time to process the snake king leaving as another yokai had found her.

"Oh! Yao Bikuni, there you are!" Nanda Ryuu-oh greeted. "Come with me, he's...he's returned!"

"He?" Yao Bikuni asked, but before anymore questions could be asked, she was dragged along by the curious dragon king.

The aftermath of the fight was still present, Yao Bikuni and Nanda Ryuu-oh reuniting with Mai, Kokoro, Otohime, and the recently awakened Seiryuu.

"Great Lord Seiryuu!" Yao Bikuni gasped in shock to see the dragon once more.

"Brother, goodness, it's been ages!" Nanda-Ryuuoh cheered, practically hugging the azure dragon as best he could. Feeling a bit too large for comfort, he shifted from being a large dragon to more of a humanoid like yokai, in vein of Nanda Ryuu-oh and the two previously met holy beasts. He donned regal scholar robes, having a slight aged look in his face as his blue dragon tail swished around.

"I am more than happy to have returned," Seiryuu stated, happy to meet with his subjects. "But, it seems the celebrations may have to wait, as Tamamo no Mae is on the prowl and who knows what she has planned…"

"I'm not sure what she has planned either, all I know is that it's horrible and involves the despair of others…" Otohime began, sounding worried.

"She also speaks of a mysterious book called the Yokai Sangokushi?" Mai added in, Seiryuu looking shocked.

"The Yokai Sangokushi!?" Seiryuu gasped in shock. "Goodness...if she's after that, it'll call for not only myself and the other three holy beast yokai...and the sacred jewels as well…"

Kokoro noticed something by her feet, a clear jewel with azure and vermillion lines meaning "Wind".

"Well good news is we found one of the jewels," Kokoro stated, holding up the sacred jewel.

"So far we have the gems for Fire, Water, Thunder, Mountain, Earth, and Wind…" Mai stated off the top of her head. "And I know Shinju's befriended Genbu and I've...at least attempted to get to Suzaku…"

Seiryuu stroked his chin, closing his eyes. "You have a brave heart child, Suzaku is one who almost never opens her heart…"

Otohime looked around a bit worried. "I think there's someone missing...Miss Yukimura...don't tell me you…"

Kokoro's eyes widened, looking shocked. "Oh...Oh no! Oh s-"

"Your majesty...please fear not…" A familiar shadowy voice said, revealing to be Shinkai Orochi. He certainly startled everyone, being quite the tall, unruly sort. But in his arms was the young prince alive and well.

"Mama! Mama!" Umioji Orochi chirped, extending his arms to be held by his mother. Otohime looked shocked, a bit off put.

"Who...Who are you?" Otohime asked, a little shaken.

"I'm Shinkai Orochi...I've been watching over that little one for as long as he's been around…" Shinkai Orochi introduced himself with a formal bow. Umioji Orochi looked up.

"It's okay mama, he's my big brother Shishi, he doesn't bite!" Umioji Orochi reassured his mother.

"I see, so you're the one he's been talking to…" Otohime concluded. "Thank you dearly for protecting the prince when I couldn't…"

"There's one last thing I request, however…" Shinkai Orochi began, looking off shyly. "Can...Can I please refer to you as "mother", being his highness' "big brother" and all…"

"Of course," Otohime answered, making the dark serpentine yokai more than happy, possibly the happiest he's ever been.

The group from the surface stuck around a bit longer with the happy family reunion, before came their time to eventually return back to the surface world.

"Now, don't fear to summon me when there's great danger," Seiryuu waved goodbye, nodding. "It's my duty to protect as a holy beast yokai, after all."

Mai and Kokoro headed back to one of the many resort lobbies, thanking Ryuujin for his efforts in bringing them between both worlds.

"Oh your back!" Nynamajo greeted with, returning with Sailornyan, Shinju, and Mao, all being more accessorized with souvenirs.

"Did you guys have fun?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yep, we went to the First Frontier, then the Final Frontier, then back and forth again! There's so many amazing rides here!" Shiju lit up, Mao looking a bit nervous.

"Y-Yeah...Galaxy Valley was a bit much for me...however…" Mao answered, shivering a bit recalling the ride.

"Personally I can't wait to try all sorts of foreign beverages tomorrow!" Sailornyan said gleefully. "After all, it's Ansley World! Nothing can go wrong!"

Kokoro looked smiled a bit holding up the emblem for Seiryuu. "Well, I can certainly say me and Mai had fun on our own. But, let's have a bit of fun together as a group, yeah?"

And thus concluded the day for the group's supernatural adventures, spending the rest of it as best as they can. It was a kingdom of magic, a land of dreams they were spending their time in, surely nothing else could possibly go wrong, even with only one holy beast left to be found. Today it was the east, and tomorrow, it would be the west...


	5. Tale 5: To Tell a White Lie

A/N: I wanted to give credits to my friend Dove for creating the concepts and ideas that went into creating Byakko. As we're at the halfway mark of the bonus content, I want to give some much overdue thanks to Feenie13 for beta reading my stories and being an awesome pal, and Axl_Fox, who's also awesome and helps me with some of my grammar mistakes. And my deepest thank yous to you, yes you, for reading and leaving reviews. It really makes my day to see them!

Now without further ado, let's continue our tale.

 **Tale 5: To Tell a White Lie**

Another night had arrived in the dark, dank lair of Tamamo no Mae. It was far more lonely now, since Wani had since fallen in the fight against Seiryuu. Not to mention, nearly all the holy beast yokai were reunited...Suzaku, Genbu, Seiuryuu, they had all reawakened…

"I've harvested more despair, but will it be enough to stop the holy beasts if they were all to awaken?" Tamamo no Mae pondered to herself aloud, pacing through the hallways. "I must...I must get my hands on the Yokai Sangokushi!"

"Ehh, you really seem persistent on getting that book," Jami asked, being one of the two remaining loyal henchmen of Tamamo no Mae. "I know it probably contains some kind of key to extremely dark arts, but why are you so persistent?"

"Don't you know, Jami?" Tamamo no Mae responded firmly, glaring down at the small boar yokai. "The Yokai Sangokushi is key to a yokai more evil, more powerful than I am...a yokai born from hatred, strife, and discord…"

Tamamo no Mae's grin kept getting bigger, more and more sinister. "Me and that yokai have similar hearts of darkness...I'll bring forth a new world order with that yokai under my control, erase all and start anew…"

The fox witch sparked a dark flame in her hand, keeping her pacing around. "This world, it's been corrupted, ruined...I want to reset, and what best way to do that than to bring forth a yokai before the times of Enma? Start a new era..."

Tamamo no Mae concentrated on the dark flame before fizzling it out. "The Era of Tamamo no Mae!"

"Interesting, I'd be more than happy to walk a new era with you, your greatness!" Jami responded with a grin, before looking a bit doubtful. "But, even with my physical frailness, I think I can take on Byakko on my own, and dismantle the rest of the beasts before they all come after you."

Tamamo no Mae tilted her head to the side. "Really now? You can only shapeshift into a pop idol and other fragile yet convincing human forms, I doubt that'll help you much...But I do have a possible aid."

Jami was soon presented with a rough yet still clear crystal, containing a jet black soul within that oozed of pure, corrupted darkness. "What's this exactly, your greatness?"

"That's a Soul Jewel I found when I woke up after being freed...I know you'll be strong enough to get rid of Byakko and the other beasts if you know them as well as Byakko…If you use it, that is..." Tamamo no Mae explained. "It's a soul so packed with despair and hatred, it rivals with me! Which means it has amazing power!"

Jami took the jewel, a little hesitantly. "I certainly know Byakko, being his former general, but the others? There's Suzaku….and the other two…"

"Good, now when a new day dawns, go forth, find and slay that beast before the meddling children even have a chance to find him!" Tamamo no Mae ordered, Jami giving a salute before going her own way. Tamamo no Mae started to approach the door of the room she was pacing around in.

"Now, to find that boy that's the key to getting the Sangokushi…" Tamamo no Mae whispered to herself, her eyes glaring around to look for Kaira. Where on earth could he be…

The soul Tamamo no Mae looked around for, Kaira, was outside the room the entire time, ducking and hiding to try to stay out of her sight.

He had heard everything, and for someone like him...well...He waited and waited for Tamamo no Mae to finally disappear down the hall.

"Erase all?" Kaira thought to himself, trying not to be too nervous about this. "Is this world even worth fighting for anymore…Or is a new world order due?"

It was a lot to process...Would giving Tamamo no Mae the Yokai Sangokushi be a good idea? Not even he knew where it was…

The same night Mao Hikage was trying to rest easy, despite a strange, odd dream. Wherever his dream was taking him, it was a dark room, but just light enough to see decently. The air was dead quiet, not a sound stirring in the night.

Within said room were two sleeping yokai, nuzzled together and holding hands, like otters who didn't want to drift away from one another. They seemed to be twins, their most striking difference seeming to be one having fiery red hair, the other having hair as black as this very night. The twins didn't seem to notice Mao, as if he wasn't there. Perhaps this was a past vision of an event prior?

It seemed eerily quiet, almost too quiet. Yet, despite it all, Mao felt like someone else was nearby as well. The door to the room creaked opened in a manner so slow that not a single sound was made. Mao couldn't make out what on earth was opening the door, and by the time it was fully opened, something slipped in within the blink of an eye and closed it shut.

The figure blended almost perfectly into the shadows, looming over the resting twins. The only thing that was just barely visible of this figure were two glaring, golden yellow feline eyes.

Whoever it was, it kept and eye over the twins, a possible hint of regret in his eyes before shaking it off. A clawed hand waved drew closer to the two.

"Forgive me...but I must…" The voice whispered with a slight tinge of regret. They didn't seem to slash all that too hard on the black haired twin's left arm, but it was hard enough to leave a mark and wake the twin up with a loud scream.

By the moment both twins were screaming, a large, intimidating shadow slammed open the doorway. This figure had glaring yellow and red eyes, as well as what seemed to be large wings on their back.

"You! What are you doing!?" The winged figure asked, her voice loud and booming, could make anything quiver in fear with a voice like that.

"D-Dear! I-It...it isn't what you think!" The feline eyed figure stammered, scared horribly of the larger figure. The winged one took full note of the sheer evidence dripping on the feline's claws, their face getting more and more furious. He seemed to try to step away, but the winged figure grabbed what seemed to be a tail on the other, dragging him out quite violently.

…

The rest of the dream was a mystery, Mao waking up quite shocked from such a dream. Thankfully he seemed to avoid it before it got too gruesome for his innocent eyes. The morning seemed to have barely just started as the black haired boy woke up.

"Maybe...maybe it's best to contact the others about this…" Mao gently spoke to himself, still slightly groggy. "But that's odd...why would I have a dream of a total stranger's memory, let alone a rather dark one?"

"Strange you dreamt of something not only disconnected, but rather...uneasy…" Seiryuu commented in deep intrigue. Alongside Seiryuu, there was Genbu and the three girls.

They had all met up in the central mansion that Genbu summoned them all to not all that long ago. There was a mysterious slab on the wall, seeming to house the Sacred Jewels on an outer ring of eight and an inner circle of two. There were only two missing from the outer ring as well as the two in the center .

"Have you been feeling well Mao? I know you're probably shocked from having a vacation on you suddenly…" Mai asked concerned for her friend, Mao looking in deep thought.

"I've been alright, though I'm not sure why I've had such odd dreams lately…" Mao commented, adjusting his glasses. "The previous ones all had a white tiger involved somehow...but this one seemed to break the pattern…"

"Has Byakko had a history of showing up in people's dreams?" Shinju asked the two other holy beast yokai.

"I couldn't tell you, the cat's behaviour is so...so cryptic and odd…" Seiryuu gave his two cents on the matter with a shrug. "Even if you pointed a knife at him, he still kept a smug look on his face…"

"Seiryuu's right, Byakko is...an incredibly odd beast to say the least…" Genbu answered back. "Not even I knew him all that well…"

Kokoro looked bemused. "I mean, a lot of old legends say white tigers appear before gentle and virtuous kings. They also said white tigers are a thing once a normal tiger reaches 500 years of age."

"But tigers can't live for 500 years, can they?" Shinju questioned a bit confused. "Usually a tiger can live for about twenty years…"

"Yes but what may not be true for human world tigers…" Mai began in deep thought before standing up. "Could be true for tigers in the yokai world…"

"But can we find and escort a virtuous king so easily?" Mao questioned, Mai looking bright eyed as she thought of something.

"I'm sure, we all know Enma, right?" Mai answered with a nod.

"Yeah but...doesn't he have like…a bunch of meetings?" Shinju brought up, Kokoro kicking back a little.

"True but meetings are boring for anybody, even him," Kokoro commented on. "You'd have to be a dried noodle in the mud to not be bored out of your mind with a schedule of paperwork and meetings."

Knowing what she had to do, Mai held out her watch and the jewel Great King Enma had given her. She took a deep breath, her hands trembling a bit. It was so nerve wracking with all that power she could call upon on a whim…

Mai quickly grabbed for her phone and made a call, to the confusion of everyone in the room.

"M-Mai! I thought you were going to summon him, not call him!" Shinju yelped.

"I-I can't! I can't just summon an extremely powerful and very busy yokai like him without asking first to make sure it's okay!" Mai stammered out nervously, as the phone started to connect to Great King Enma on the other line.

"Hello, uh-huh, okay, alright, gotcha, see you there!" Mai spoke on her phone before hanging up. "He'll be here shortly, Genbu showed him how to get here a while back!"

As if on cue, Great King Enma showed up without a hint of delay as he entered into the room.

"Your majesty, you arrived rather quick," Genbu commented, Seiryuu looking a bit puzzled.

"...Is he truly a descendant of Huang Long? He seems a bit...short...Does he drink his milk?" Seiryuu questioned Genbu with a whisper. Genbu simply nodded.

With a few brief explanations, Great King Enma was all caught up on what was going on.

"Hmm...I think I have a good idea on where Byakko might be, he has a mountain range in the most westward yomakai named after him…" Great King Enma explained. "It's said to contain a judge of kings, so maybe he's there?"

"Right, and even if it's a bit dangerous, we have to explore the mountain to hopefully find Byakko…" Mai commented on the matters, nodding her head. "Me, Great King Enma, and Mao will go this time, I think going a bit smaller will help us not get lost easily."

"It's settled then!" Great King Enma declared, rallying up the aforementioned party. "Ungaikyo! If you would please set coordinates for the Byakko Mountain Range!"

"Y-Yes your majesty!" The Ungaikyo of the mansion stated, adjusting itself as it focused. "I'm ready when you are.

Just before heading out, Genbu stopped Enma briefly, something in her other hand. "Before you go, please take this. You too, Mao."

What she handed to the two boys were very thick coats. "It's dangerously cold out there, and the young lady Mai has come prepared at the very least…" the old tortoise yokai stated.

"Thank you very much," Mao thanked, putting on the coat.

"Same here, thank you, now let's go!" Great King Enma finished, the trio heading out through the mirror yokai's teleportation ability.

Upon arrival, the mountain range seemed to be having a blizzard hitting it. Strong winds bringing sheets of snow were blowing, a thick blanket of snow already covering the barely visible mountains. It was a bit of an intimidating sight, but everyone took a deep breath.

Right now the only option was to proceed as best they all could, and proceeded they did. It didn't seem too bad at first until…

"Agh!" Mao yelped, tripping over something that was covered by snow and not solid. Whatever it was, it made Mao fall right in, the other two panicking.

"Mao hang on! I'm coming after you!" Great King Enma yelled, going into the hole without second thought.

"W-Wait up! This is kind of impulsive don't you think!?" Mai yelped, going in after as well.

The strange hole seemed to be an odd vertical cave entrance of sorts, and it splitted the gang apart: Mai with Great King Enma, and Mao all by himself.

"Mao? Mao!? Mao where are you!?" Mai yelped, looking around. Thankfully the cave seemed to be partially illuminated, well enough to see. It was a pretty spacious looking cave, being more of a violet and blue hue as opposed to the more warmer tones seen in the human world.

"I think we're going to have to look for him...I'm sure he's somewhere in this cave here, right?" Great King Enma brought up. "After all we did fall down the same hole…"

The two kept exploring through the large cave network, yelling for Mao whenever they could. It was hard to deny, but there was a strangely powerful presence that could be felt.

Soon enough, a figure emerged. The two hoped it was their friend but…

"So, seems you two are the meddling kids Tamamo no Mae keeps complaining about!" The voice undeniably belonging to Jami spoke up, making herself known. "I, the great mist illusionist Jami, shall make sure you don't proceed!"

"Another one of Tamao's goons...figured…" Mai gently cursed under her breath.

"You're the one responsible for separating Mao from us, aren't you?" Great King Enma inquired rather aggressively. "Tell us where he is!"

"Listen even I dunno this cave very well, it shocks me that you didn't find Byakko with you magnetic protagonist aura," Jami added in with a shrug. "Even someone who tagged along got lost and I can't tell you where he is…"

"Either way, I won't hesitate…" Mai spoke up, grabbing for one of the Yokai Jewels she had. This time, it was a simple yet elegant looking yellow jewel. Getting out her watch, Mai began her set of poses.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, doing her hand motions to summon a yokai. "Fushigi Kyubi!"

One flashy and firey transformation sequence later, Mai summoned forth the flashy yokai and donned her whip baton and rather loud costume once more.

"So you're the scoundrel this time?" Kyubi commented, his eyes glaring as he formed a ball of fire in his fingertips. "I'll make sure you're brought to justice with my trusty sidekick here!"

"Even if I'm in a bit of triple trouble here, I'll still play with you three morons!" Jami shouted, shorting out of her boar like nose. A thick fog covered the cave room. "Now try to find the truth in this!"

"That utter scoundrel! But, keep your head strong, for justice, for love!" Kyubi commented on the matters, still having the flame in his hands.

Mai seemed to have an idea strike her. She took out her whip like baton, and well, started to whip it around the fog. The whipping was proved to be effective, easing up the fog.

"Eep!" Jami yelped, soon being pelted with fire magic from not only Kyubi, but Great King Enma as well.

There was a bit of smoke from the fire, the group waiting for it to ease out.

"Did we make bacon crisps?" Great King Enma asked, having a fist clenched and still ready to fight.

"The flames of justice never fail against evil! Acho-ho-ho-ho!"" Kyubi stated, feeling quite proud.

Though...There was something amiss about the whole ordeal, and the group would soon find out…

During Mai and Great King Enma's confrontation with Jami, Mao was still by himself, looking around the cave to see if he could find the others.

"Enma? Mai? Where are you two?" Mao gently tried to speak up, his voice trying it's best to be loud but it wasn't too loud given his gentle nature.

Mao kept on walking through the mysterious path of the cave, trying dearly to find his friends. It was a bit worrying, but hope might have showed some mercy on the poor child as he saw a figure in the distance, lying on the floor.

"Are you...are you okay?" Mao asked the figure, gently approaching it. Upon further inspection, he seemed to ring a bell.

"C...C...Cold…" The voice of a shaky, almost ill sounding Kaira spoke, shivering out of his mind. He didn't look too well physically either, cold sweat and a feverish complexion pretty visible, so Mao could deduce he wasn't faking it…

In response, Mao gave Kaira the large coat he wore on the way in, making sure the sickly snake king could warm up. The shivering from Kiara seemed to ease up a bit.

"T...Th…" Kaira tried to say, muttering out a quiet "thanks" before getting things a bit more focused. "Why did you want to help me…?"

"Good, bad, or morally confused, I can't let someone just die," Mao answered to Kaira, his gentle aura seeming to keep the usually rather angry snake king at ease.

"I guess you're right...it was kind of a stupid choice for me to come here," Kaira sneered, wrapping himself up tighter in the coat. "Due to what I am and my lineage, my body can't decide if I'm warm or cold blooded, which means colder climates like the mountains here are bad news…"

"Lineage?" Mao asked curiously, a bit curious. He knew his title was snake king, but he wondered if there was more to it.

"Long story short, I'm a hanyou, or half human, half yokai," Kaira explained. "My dad was human, but my mom was the queen of a prestigious family, the snake kings. I'm the sole heir to the family due to...well...serious complications that plague most hanyous and got the rest of my potential siblings..."

"I see...Personally I think I'm human, but I've had a lot of strange things happen to me," Mao explained, giving his thoughts. "Usually in the form of strange prophetic dreams…"

"So, we're both freaks then, huh?" Kaira commented, nodding slightly. "Guess I'm not alone…"

"Even if I don't know why I have odd things happen to me, and see odd things...I'm thankful in knowing I'm not entirely alone…" Mao remarked with a gentle smile. "Even if we aren't the same we can at least kind of relate…"

"Yeah...yeah…" Kaira responded, even leaning a bit onto Mao. "You kinda remind me of someone who hung out with an old friend of mine...Yamao I think was his name? It's been so long…"

The two kept in each other's company for a bit longer, until something started to approach the two.

"So…" The voice began, startling Mao somewhat. "I think I've finally found the one…"

The mysterious figure in the obscured light seemed to be a large feline, having eyes much like the ones Mao saw in his dream.

"W-Who are you?" Mao asked, the figure making himself more clear as a large white tiger yokai, a smug look gracing the tiger's face.

"I am the westward king of snow and mountains, the White Tiger, Byakko," Byakko introduced himself. "But it seems I've finally found the king who rules with a gentle hand…"

Mao got a bit nervous, shocked even. "B-But I'm not a king, you have to be truly mistaken!"

"A bit deceptive I may be as some say, but I can undoubtedly feel the blood of a great king flowing in you, Mao Hikage," Byakko explained, getting closer to the two to let them both lay on the rather fluffy tiger.

"If Mao really is a king, can you awaken his powers or something?" Kaira asked, Byakko looked a bit miffed.

"Yes, but it would be highly dangerous for all of this, his majesty's Mao especially," Byakko explained. "You see, his powers had been locked away for so long on top of a human guise, and awakening to them right now would cause him to literally combust into flames. Possibly even slightly explosive too."

The tiger adjusted his gaze. "But...I do know a way on how to gradually awaken your powers with my assistance…"

"How so?" Mao asked curiously.

Before Byakko could speak, his ears twitched as he looked around, sensing something that was wrong.

"Please, come with me, I feel there's a powerfully dangerous evil that's appeared!" Byakko asked for the black haired boy. "The other one can come along if he's feeling up to it."

"I'm…" Kaira began to speak, before curling up in the coat more. "...Actually pretty tired...please let me take a nap for once…"

"With that settle, get on my back, let's go!" Byakko declared, Mao getting on the tiger's back as they went off into the direction of the evil that Byakko was sensing.

Back with the fight between Jami, Mai, Great King Enma and Kyubi, it seemed the heroes had the upper hand as Jami was lying on the floor, smoked with soot.

"Darn it...my fragileness can't do any fighting…" Jami coughed, being weakened. "Nor was I expecting the firepower of the great king today…"

"Do we have to keep teaching you this lesson that evil never wins, old pig?" Kyubi asked, Jami looking up.

"Well...I did come...prepared…" Jami spoke up, holding up the dark soul gem Tamamo no Mae had given her. "Now...please, lend me your strength!"

Jami cracked open the jewel, a dark power enveloping her. But it wasn't just her getting power, it was clear by a few squeals and yells that this was something more than a power up.

"W-What! I said lend me your strength, not-" Jami tried to yell, only for the darkness to contort her body around like mere putty to fit the shape of the new evil. The last of Jami came with a single loud squeal and something breaking out of the body of the yokai.

This new, evil looking yokai was a bit taller than Mai, donning glaring yellow eyes and plenty of teeth. She had tusks and large, demonic boar-like feet and claws, and hair that seemed to extend into demonic wings.

"I've done it…" The demonic yokai spoke, cackling slightly.

"W-Who...Who...who is it?" Mai asked, the demonic yokai smiling.

"Taking the title of a traitor, I've abandoned everything to fight you once more," The demonic yokai introduced herself. "With chops, kicks, arrows, ears, beams, wings, and cutters forged in the flames of the infinite hell, I'm Darkness God…"

The demonic darkness god let out a maddening cackle.

"I'm Darkness God Onryou!" The freshly introduced Darkness God Onryou introduced herself in such a manner that required a dramatic zoom in for emphasis.

"Who?" Kyubi asked, the darkness god looking angry.

"I said you can call me, Darkness God Onryou!" Darkness God Onryou yelled, the last part of her title keeping the dramatic zoom in.

"Either way, we'll fight you, ready Kyubi, Great King Enma?" Mai asked, the other two nodding.

"Right!" Great King Enma said, taking a battle stance.

"Well well, you're so eager to fight me," Darkness God Onryou began, looking miffed. "Is that how a former boss of mine and former friend should treat me!?"

Mai and Great King Enma seemed to have a realization at the same time on just who this was really.

"Yoma Kijo…" Great King Enma spoke, shocked.

"Junko...you've...you're back…" Mai added in, a bit taken off guard by the realization.

"Heh, that's right," Darkness God Onryou spoke, laughing some more. "But those names are in the past, but...you really think you could have gotten rid of a god?"

Noticing them off guard, Darkness God Onryou swooped in and grabbed Great King Enma by the neck.

"You bet I'm back and better than before!" Now, just look at yourself, your majesty! You got rid of your godly powers because of some disgusting girl!" Darkness God Onryou yelled. "Was sacrificing your godlike powers really worth it? You were converted by force!"

"I wasn't converted!" Great King Enma tried to say, trying not to lose his cool. "Are you going to keep denying the kindness Mai gave me when nobody else would, especially you!?"

At this remark, Darkness God Onryou slammed Great King Enma into a nearby cave wall, chunks of violet and indigo rocks scattering from such a violent impact. The dark god kept the king in a rather tight choking grip.

"You're such a moron, how can you rule without showing people the true cruelty of Infinite Hell?" Darkness God Onryou sneered aggressively, showing that she indeed had no mercy in this. "And think everyone's just going to forget the fact you were on a rampage turning innocents into monstrous yoma?"

"I…" Great King Enma tried to say, only for Darkness God Onryou to fly up a bit and let him go, only for…

"Destructive Power Kick!" Darkness God Onryou shouted, kicking the regal yokai right into the ground.

Mustering up with what strength he could, Great King Enma shot a powerful wave of fire at the dark god yokai. But, it seemed to not affect her very much.

"Pathetic," Darkness God Onryou sneered, displeased with such a display from the king of yokai.

"I...I won't let you win!" Great King Enma cried, tears clearly in his eyes as he tried to stand up despite how beaten he was.

"You really think so?! You're nothing more than a sniveling crybaby right now!" Darkness God Onryou cackled at the pathetic sight, readying her arm.

"Fist's power cho-" Darkness God Onryou tried to yell, only for her arm to be caught by the baton whip of Mai.

"I won't let you hurt him any further!" Mai yelled, trying her hardest to pull the dark god away from Great King Enma. "Now go back into the drain pipe you came out of!"

"Just the same as usual, Suzuki," Darkness God Onryou sneered. "Thinking you're all so good and true…"

Darkness God Onryou responded to this by throwing Mai into a wall. "And how much I hate it, especially when I'm the only one right in these parts! I am a god, after all!"

Kyubi came quickly to aid Mai, but not before giving a glare to Darkness God Onryou.

"Even a weak crybaby can become a horrifying hero, like Aika in the Demochick series," Kyubi stated. "Though, you're living just off of grudges and anger...no sight of hope in your dark heart…"

"Why...Why you!" Darkness God Onryou yelled, focusing her energy. "Eat this! Burning Wave Beam!"

Thankfully the three ducked out of the way from the beam, Mai and Kyubi standing next to each other now.

"Let's finish her," Mai stated, reaching her hand out for Kyubi's to do a heart to heart soultimate.

"Oh no you don't! I have no time for your garishly dressed nonsense!" Darkness God Onryou yelled, energy arrows appearing behind her. "Now! Supersonic Arrows!"

The dark energy arrows were fired, pinning Kyubi and Mai to a nearby cave wall. Mai had been transformed out of her suit and back into her normal civilian clothes.

"Because I knew you two, I was able to get your weaknesses like it was nothing," Darkness God Onryou explained with a cackle. "And my return was because a kind soul found my soul encased in crystal, I just needed a yokai's physical form to emerge from…"

"And you think you can get away with such things on my watch? Within my domain" A voice said, revealing to be Byakko with Mao on his back.

"M-Mao!?" Mai, Kyubi, and Great King Enma yelled in unison.

Mao got off the back of Byakko, a bit nervous. "I...I'm not all that strong but...hurting my friends like this, it's utterly unexcusable!"

"And what do you think you're going to do? Just stand there like a chicken?" Darkness God Onryou asked, her grin still sinister as ever. "I completely trashed the king of yokai, you can't do anything to hurt me!"

Byakko looked over, handing Mao two objects: A white emblem themed after a tiger and a clear jewel, one of the Sacred Jewels. It had three white lines meaning "Lake"

When holding the two objects, words seemed to form into the mind of Mao, as well as some stylish hand motions.

"Cloaked in snow, striking from the west when least expecting it! If you would please come forth…" Mao began, focusing as he inserted the jewel into the emblem "The White Guardian...Byakko!"

A transformation sequence later, Mao had emerged from a shining white light in a new set of threads, being a stylized Wushu uniform with a tiger motif and welding Wind and Fire Wheels. Byakko had turned into a humanoid form, complete with an outfit best suited for stealth. Odd...he seemed to resemble the figure from Mao's dream…

"More of this sparkly transforming nonsense!?" Darkness God Onryou yelled in shock. "I never thought a boy would be able to do such a thing!"

The dark god yokai spread her wings, still keeping a sinister glare in her eyes. "But...I won't let you! Be blown away by…Sky Soaring Wing!"

Darkness God Onryou let out a strong gust of wind. Byakko didn't seem affected by it, disappearing pretty quickly. Mao was able to ride out the wind storm completely unaffected by the wind attack.

"W-What!?" Darkness God Onryou screeched in horrified shock. "How is this even possible!? Y-You didn't even flinch!"

The sinister yokai kept a rather sadistic looking grin. "But...you won't be able to survive this, especially since I can't seem to find your feline friend! Rock Splitting Cutter!"

A strong, cutting like wave of energy was headed for Mao's way. Even though he didn't know a thing about combat, he did the best he could by holding the circular blades in front of him for defense.

Upon impact, the cutter attack completely shattered by the defensive will of the black haired boy.

"A-Are you serious!?" Darkness God Onryou yelled. "Why won't you die!?"

Before she could speak again, she felt something cold being stabbed into her back, freezing her body solid. Behind her was a rather sneaking Byakko who gave a smug look to the demonic god.

"Simple, you said it yourself 'since I know these two, I can defeat them', but you can't defeat us," Byakko answered for the evil yokai. "As this is our first encounter."

"Why...why...why you! If I could I'd sling my hell forged ears at you!" Darkness God Onryou yelled, as Byakko and Mao took a stance.

"Now, let's get rid of her, shall we?" Byakko asked, Mao nodding.

"Yes…!" Mao responded, taking the paw of the humanoid tiger. A heartfelt power seemed to flow through the two as they got absolute focus.

"Roaring Night Blizzard Claw!" Mao and Byakko yelled in unison, leaping in after the frozen yokai, performing a stunning furry of icy slashes in a spectacular fashion.

"No! No! Nooo! I wanted ninety nine lives, not ninety nine problems!" Darkness God Onryou screeched in pain, giving one last screech that could be considered ear piercing, even for demonic entities.

Once the darkness god was gone, all that remained was one jewel. It had a trio of black and white lines, meaning "Heaven". Mao picked it up, having reverted back to his usual clothes.

"So...This is one of the last sacred jewels…" Mao said, holding it up.

"All we need are two more…" Great King Enma stated, having recovered.

"You're collecting the sacred jewels, huh?" Byakko commented. "The last two are Yin and Yang and getting them is a bit...tricky…"

The tiger yokai had reverted back to his more beast like form, looking a bit uneasy. "Yin and Yang...brings a lot of ache to my heart…"

"How so, do you mind talking about it?" Mai asked the large tiger concerned. Byakko gave a sigh.

"To make a long story short...I'm Suzaku's husband, or at least I was. I merely acted like I was in love with her to get past enemy lines and win the battle without having to fight her fist to fist, I would have needed to get her off guard…" Byakko began with a heavy sigh. "But as time went on, it became less of an act and more genuine. We even had children, those being the first twins in the whole Yokai World, Noruka and Soruka…"

Byakko kept a low head. "In a fit of confusion, I attempted...well...child murder, and Suzaku was naturally not happy. I've seen the absolute worst of her anger and wrath, I was violently dragged back to these mountains, and have remained ever since…"

"Are Noruka and Soruka still alive?" Mao asked, Byakko nodded.

"Yes, they were just...sealed away after a particular incident, their location said to be written in the Yokai Sangokushi," Byakko answered, Mai's eyes lighting up.

"Oh...so that's why she's looking for it…" Mai concluded, the feline's eyes widening.

"Y-You've met Suzaku?" Byakko stuttered in shocked response.

"Yes but she's been...difficult?" Mai answered, rubbing the back of her head. "She's cold and not very friendly…"

Byakko started to lay down on the cave ground. "I see...I see...Honestly I can't blame her, it's truly my fault she's more cold than she's ever been. I broke her after all, and I'm not sure if I can fix her…"

"But...I know she has good in her somewhere, I'm not going to give up…" Mai finished, Byakko lifting his head up.

"You really are determined when it comes to bonds Mai," Mao responded.

"No kidding," Great King Enma added in.

"Either way, we should be getting a move on, we can't let the other beasts wait around," Byakko stated. "If something calls for all four of us, it can't be good."

Everyone started to follow the tiger yokai through the cave. "But pardon me for a moment, there's another fellow here, I'll get him then we can move hastily."

Back with Kaira, he was slowly waking up from a nap. He started to feel a lot better, but something was amiss. He felt in his robe, only to notice something missing.

"M-Mom's locket!" Kaira yelped, noticing a mouse with black fur and hot pink eyes holding the locket in it's paws. "Y-You! Give it back!"

"Why should I?" The mouse said, revealing to be none other than Tamamo no Mae. "You've been holding onto this key for the longest time and didn't tell me?"

"It was my mother's! I'm not going to let you take something from me, or plan it for some nefarious plot!" Kaira yelled back, pretty angry at his boss.

"Don't tell me...you plan on leaving me!?" Tamamo no Mae gasped at even such a thought being proposed.

Kiara's eyes glared. "Yeah, since even though this world has it's issues, it's not worth destroying everyone and everything over! Especially a world filled with nothing but chaos!"

"You fight for a hollow cause...that one boy's kind aura had rotted your sense away…" Tamamo no Mae growled. "But, you and the rest will soon pay, as now I have the ultimate key in my hands!"

Before Kaira could even think about pursuing, Tamamo no Mae quickly disappeared. Soon enough, Byakko and the others arrived, Mai and Great King Enma looking shocked.

"Kaira!?" Mai and Great King Enma yelped, Great King Enma taking a stance to fight. Mao quickly got in between the two and Kiara.

"Let's not cause a fight, not now…" Mao stated, Kaira getting up, still wrapped in Mao's offered jacket.

"I ain't looking for a fight since guess who's boss turned out to be a thieving jerk who took something from my mom?" Kaira answered a bit angirly. "And plans to use said heirloom to find a book that'll lead her to the path of serious chaos?"

"You had the key to the Yokai Sangokushi the whole time!?" Mai asked shocked, Kaira shrugging.

"Sorta? Long story, but we got a lot to worry about right now," Kaira stated. "But, I'll work with you if it means not dying."

"Sure thing," Mai stated, looking at Great King Enma and Kaira. "But don't start any fights you two, got it?"

The two boys nodded, joining up with Byakko as the group headed out. The Ungaikyo that brought the trio here waited. Though, Mai stepped up first.

"Ungaikyo, do you mind if I can ask you something?" Mai asked, the mirror yokai perking up.

"Yes, what is it?" Ungaikyo asked curiously.

"If possible, I need to make a stop, just for me. Teleport the others to the central mansion, but teleport me to…" Mai began, whispering into the mirror yokai, who did a nodding motion with its body.

The sun was setting over the vermillion hued mansion that Suzaku resided in, tropical plants blooming around with a calming atmosphere.

"S-Suzaku?" Mai asked, having just arrived and looking for the bird yokai. She was soon greeted by said bird yokai, looking tensed as usual.

"It's you again, what do you want?" Suzaku asked, Mai looking at the bird. The two sat at the beach, looking at the setting sun.

"I've been through a lot, not just when I met you, but before that…" Mai began, keeping herself composed. "My heart's been broken, I know what it's like to utterly hate someone, I've felt angry plenty of times in my life…"

Suzaku tilted her head. "Really? But how? You never seem to resort to violence and get along with both humans and yokai…"

"I don't know how I keep pulling myself through it all, but I think it's something Seiryuu told me the other day...that I have a strong heart," Mai answered for the bird yokai. "I'm not physically active, I don't know how to fight, I make pretty average grades in school…But my heart is my strongest part of me..."

The vermillion bird seemed to start to understand what Mai was getting at. "...I see, you may not be a warrior who fights with her fists, but rather one with kindness…"

Suzaku stretched her wings a bit, before folding them to her side. "Truth be told, despite my strength, I was not the one who won the Holy Beast War all those years ago…"

"Really? Who won then?" Mai asked, Suzaku looking in deep thought.

"It was actually Genbu, the one least likely to start a fight out of all of us...She managed to make allies with all of us no matter what and cease our fighting…" Suzaku spoke, craning her bird head upwards. "Not once did she fight us, and she won the war...Or at least, settled it."

Mai looked intrigued by what Suzaku had told her. "So, that does prove that compassion is not weakness…"

"Honestly, it isn't weakness," Suzaku commented. "People with compassion are franky more powerful than I am, as much as I don't want to admit it…"

"Then why were you so cold to me?" Mai asked, Suzaku looking a bit saddened.

"I had forgotten about such love and kindness long ago, as what brought me such joy, my sons Noruka and Soruka, were sealed away…" Suzaku explained, her voice getting a bit heavy. "I spent ages finding the only record of their sealed location, searching far and wide, not being able to find anything…"

The blonde girl reached her hand out to the bird, patting her sympathetically on her fluffy neck fluff. "Your feathers are really soft, did you know that? But...I understand, it's understandable that something can break you..."

Mai stood up next to the bird. "But kindness can help fix those things sometimes, or at least make things a bit better…"

Suzaku nuzzled her head next to Mai, letting her pet her bird like head. She really was soft like the clouds she flew up with, goodness.

"Thank you, I understand your style now and why you kept persisting even after I tried to push you away with my coldness and anger. I wasn't sure what it was like for someone to get close to me after so long."

Suzaku reached under one of her wings, handing Mai something. "Here, I feel giving you this proper and this for the first time will help you."

The two things Mai were handed was the Fire sacred jewel Suzaku had accidentally given her during their first encounter, and the other being a vermillion colored emblem themed after a bird.

"Thank you very much, Suzaku!" Mai cheerfully thanked, hugging the bird yokai.

The two kept in each other's company until the sun went over the horizons, before Mai was returned to the others for the night. Even if something gloomy was looming, things started to look a bit brighter. Cold ice had been melted away from Suzaku's heart, and now all the holy beast yokai were together. Tamamo no Mae didn't stand a chance...did she?


	6. Tale 6: North, South, East, West!

**Tale 6: North, South, East, and West! The Yokai Sangokushi!**

Another night, another souring defeat for Tamamo no Mae had drawn for the malicious fox. The atmosphere was lonely and quite bleak. Her trusted hencemen, Wani and Jami, were nothing more than gone, and Kaira had betrayed her.

"It happened all so quickly, so many of my loyal followers either gone or having left me…" Tamamo no Mae monologued to herself, pacing around the empty halls of her once fairly lively mansion. It was dark and dank, just how she liked it, yet much lonelier. "Not like it mattered...such kinds of bonds were always kind of stupid anyways…"

In times like this, being bound to such solitude, the evil fox yokai thought to a time long since passed…

* * *

It felt like merely days ago, but it was actually thousands and thousands of years ago. Back in a time before there ever was the Enma family, but rather four highly powerful yokai all fighting each other for power over the unified human and yokai world.

In the midsts of the holy beast war, Tamamo no Mae was not a solo unit of darkness like she is today, but rather the pupil of the fiercest and most ruthless of the holy beast yokai. She would trail behind the vermillion scarlet feathers of the bird yokai who showed no mercy to those who crossed her. She had such an undeniable strength and power...Tamamo no Mae couldn't help but admire greatly.

However, once the war had drawn to a close, an era of peace arrived, and the two left their ways. But….one day their paths did cross during the peaceful era.

"Ma?" A young, energetic voice with red hair asked, tugging on the wing of the bird yokai. "Who's that?"

Suzaku looked from afar, noticing the figure. She spread her wings, the red haired yokai and a similar black haired one taking cover behind her.

"Mother, I don't like the presence of this…" The black haired yokai wimpred, gripping tightly to the large vermillion bird's talon.

"Noruka, Soruka, my children…I don't think there's anything to fear…" Suzaku reassured her two children, lowering her guard down once the figure got closer.

"Ah, the great vermillion queen of the southern skies and flames, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Tamamo no Mae asked the bird yokai. Tamamo no Mae looked a bit different, having not yet having her dark cloak, exposing her tall, white and violet fox ears, as well as looking far less sinister.

"Tamamo no Mae, it really has been a while hasn't it…" Suzaku answered back, Tamamo no Mae looking back behind the bird.

"Err you two, I believe you should scurry on now," Tamamo no Mae remarked. "We're going to have some grown up talk."

"What do ya think you're gonna do with ma? You're not gonna take ma away from us!" Noruka asked, raising his small fists, Soruka trying to stop him.

"N-Noruka...l-let's go, she'll be fine, right?" Soruka asked, trying his best to drag his brother away from getting into a fight.

"Don't worry my children, I'll be fine, it's just a talk me and miss Tamamo are going to have, alright?" Suzaku reassured, both children hurrying back inside. Tamamo no Mae looked a bit confused.

"You have...children? With who?! I thought love wasn't your thing!" Tamamo no Mae yelped as soon as the children were out of earshot. Suzaku shook her head.

"It's...complicated, but without a war to fight, I've mellowed out and well, found something worth fighting and protecting for in this era," Suzaku answered simply and calmly, catching the fox off guard. "That being my beloved children, goodness...I couldn't imagine something horrible happening to them…"

"Seriously? Fighting for love is something that will never catch on," Tamamo no Mae stated rather dully. "If you have this softened attitude, you aren't going to be able to fight when this era of peace does end…"

"Nonsense Tamamo, just because I am not slicing and ripping everything I see into shreds doesn't mean I've lost my flame," Suzaku responded, the spark of her once feared aggressive nature slightly appearing in her tone.

"I am just saying when peace ends, you simply cannot expect to win by doing something like offering confectionaries," Tamamo no Mae explained further with her speech, resting one finger on her chin before giving a shrug. "All I am trying to say is that things like peace are only temporary, so don't lose your flame to fight..."

Suzaku was silenced for a moment from what Tamamo no Mae tried to say, even starting to show more obvious aggression, but she soon calmed down. "Are you underestimating me?"

"No, I'm merely looking out for you," Tamamo no Mae answered back, starting to take her leave. "If you get your hopes up too high in these peaceful times, it'll make the darker times all the more worse and devastating. Nothing's worse than being unable to fight since peaceful days softened you up too much…"

* * *

"And she never did take my advice…" Tamamo no Mae harshly whispered, done recalling her time from years past.

Tamamo no Mae took out the locket she had snagged from Kaira the other day, the key to finding the tombe she had been spending so much time searching for. "I'll make the world regret basking so much in harmony once again…and constantly fighting for such a pointless thing..."

The fox gave a sinister grin, clutching the locket tightly. Something seemed to click into her mind, her grin getting larger and larger. "Now I think I finally know where to find the key to restarting the whole world again…And the power to stop anything that crosses my path with my soultimate skill..."

With that knowledge, Tamamo no Mae transformed into a falcon, flying off from her mansion in search of the elusive Yokai Sangokushi…

* * *

"Is it okay if I come in?" The gentle voice of Mai quietly asked, peering through a door. She had been personally summoned to visit with Great King Enma herself. She was a bit worried what the trouble was, he was never the type to flat out ask for help.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mai," Great King Enma answered, sounding a bit low and out of it. He was on the balcony that could be accessed from his room, sitting on a bench and looking at the sea outside. Mai sat next to the king, keeping her gentle yet composed posture.

"What's been bothering you lately?" Mai asked with true concern for her friend. The blond king was quiet for a moment, clasping his hands over his mouth before speaking.

"...I've been thinking about what Darkness God Onryou was saying yesterday," Great King Enma spoke up, sounding uneasy with his tone. "I thought what was in the past was, well, in the past...but is it really?"

Mai was silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. She knew as well as he did that he was formerly a horrifying god of darkness, misguidedly fueled by tragedy to bring destruction and suffering. Thinking back to that moment, that day they had first encountered one another in the clash of light and dark…

"It's true that you can't turn back time and reverse what you did back then, or anything really," Mai answered with a gentle nod. "But people can change for the better with time, so can yokai, right?"

"True...but…" Great King Enma spoke, his voice getting more distant and quiet. "But what's stopping some curse from turning me back into what I was? What if I really end up hurting someone I care about!?"

The great king breathing got more shaky and uneasy, eventually a few tears appearing in his eyes. "W-what if I think I'm changing for the better but I'm actually not?!"

Shocked by this, Mai took a few deep breaths, trying to keep herself professional. He was the king of all yokai after all. She grabbed into her bag to pull out the yokai jewel of Enma and offered her hand.

"I do believe people and yokai truly have their good and bad points. I'm not perfect, I'm a bit of a clutz, I'm not good at math or science, I don't get along with my brother very well…" Mai began to speak. "But, I think one of the reasons the bonds between yokai and humans is critual is we can learn a lot from each other…"

In a friendly gesture, Mai softly grasped one of Great King Enma's hands and held out the royal violet, gold, and scarlet jewel in front of him.

"To me it doesn't matter if you're called Enma, Jizou, Daitaro, or whatever," Mai continued with her speech, gently smiling as she looked a bit embarrassed with her face flushing a bit red. "You're my friend and I'm frankly very honored by that fact, as seen with the jewel here. We have a true friendship…"

Great King Enma couldn't help but nod and smile from the girl's words, holding the other's hand. "Right, I may have not had too many friends myself, so I'm glad to have you and the others…"

Mai helped the king up, keeping a genuine, gentle smile on her face. "Don't worry, I'll be here for you. It's what friends do, yeah?"

This moment of peace was soon interrupted by something that Great King Enma seemed to have sensed, feeling more tense.

"...I think something's wrong...I feel an incredibly powerful amount of dark yoki energy in the central hall…" Great King Enma said, Mai quickly grasping her watch.

"Oh dear...even if it's her...we have to fight, I'll message the others in a manner that will alert them swiftly and urgently!" Mai responded, getting out her phone and booting up the group chat she and the others were in as the two ran. She made sure everyone was notified that indeed, it was an emergency and to come to the yokai world's grand palace immediately.

In the central hall, in it's large circular fashion, there was a figure in the center. It looked unfamiliar at first.

"A...A monkey?" Mai asked, pointing to what looked like a black spider monkey in the center a bit puzzled by the sight of such a thing.

"You are such a simpleton, aren't you?" The monkey asked, the hot pink eyes of said monkey glaring. With a puff of smoke she revealed her true form of Tamamo no Mae.

"Tamamo no Mae! How did you even get in?!" Great King Enma asked, ready to fight the evil yokai.

"Oh simple, no ordinary guard would have suspected an innocent little bee flying by," Tamamo no Mae laughed, pulling out the locket she stole from Kaira. "Now be ready to witness the dawn of a new age your majesty and your little helper!"

A glowing circle appeared under Tamamo no Mae, the ground beginning to shake a little as something rose up from the glowing circle. It seemed to be an ancient book, but bound with a powerful seal. The evil fox grasped the book with her hands.

"At long last it's mine! The Yokai Sangokushi! All I have to do is undo the seal and such unlimited power of suffering at the expense of others…it will all be mine!" Tamamo no Mae crackled, trying to hurry to undo the seal.

"Why would you want such a thing? And for what!?" Mai demanded to know, showing a rare side of aggression. It was at least enough to slightly startle Tamamo no Mae in undoing the book's seals to speak.

"The concept of peace and good is a fruitless and childish one. After all, the sun and moon fight over the sky in a constant battle of day versus night. No amount of wishes to the stars, or the seven brightest stars in the skies can quell such a fued…" Tamamo no Mae began to give a speech to the two, slowly trying to break off the seal on the book. "...And such feuds are all throughout the world...wishing for peace is a foolish thing, as it never lasts forever…"

Tamamo no Mae was able to break the seal on the book, a flow of sealed up dark magic flowing onto her. "Which is why I declare for a world without such a silly thing, there's no use getting your hopes up only for it to all crumble away, right?"

Mai knew right now was the time to hold absolutely nothing back. She grabbed into her bag to pull out a solid, shining gold yokai jewel, a serious look in her eyes as she took a stance.

"You may revel in absolute darkness, but wherever there's darkness, there's always a shining light!" Mai began to say, inserting the golden jewel and beginning her hand motions.

"My dearest friend of the truest and noble heart, please hear my call in this dark time! None of us can face this great darkness alone, please help me and both worlds in shining once more…" Mai began her speech, doing much more dramatic motions. "...Yokai God of Eternal Light, Nurarishin!"

Within a beam of the most dazzling light, Mai had called forth the sparkling god and gained her stunning threads once more. Though instead of the Mirror of Light she previously wielded, she now had a jeweled hand mirror at her disposal.

"Being of such cruel, sickening darkness...prepare to beg for mercy at the hands of light!" Nurarishin began, Mai shortly following.

"Oh great, you sparkly types, my favorite…" Tamamo no Mae sneered sarcastically, readying herself.

"Nuaraishin, Enma, let's do this together! We have to hold her off until the others get here!" Mai rallied up, the three of them charging in at the evil fox.

The first thing Tamamo no Mae got a wave of fire from Enma casting fire magic to catch her off guard.

"Do you realize how nice and expensive this cloak is!?" Tamamo no Mae yelled, trying to put out some fire on her cloak. As soon as she got herself more composed, the fox was soon blinded by light from Mai's hand mirror.

While blinded, Tamamo no Mae was struck down by the blade of Nurarishin, knocking her down onto her feet. She still kept the book clutched in her hands, having broken the seal on the book.

"You fools…" Tamamo no Mae sneered, trying her best to stand up as she glared at the three as a powerful dark aura engulfed her. "You think you may have the upper hand…"

"Surrender now, Tamamo no Mae!" Mai yelled in response, Tamamo no Mae simply glaring back.

"But what you don't understand is I have enough power to unleash my ultimate attack! My soultimate!" Tamamo no Mae laughed, forming a spear of darkness. "Now prepare to ever regret defying the great Tamamo no Mae!"

Raw darkness formed in Tamamo no Mae's hand, readying it as she focused her aim onto Mai and Enma. "Ultimate Nine Tail Heartbreaker!"

"Mistress! Your Majesty, look out!" Nurarishin yelled, leaping in just in time to shield the two from the dark attack with great impact. THe clashing of darkness and light was pretty powerful, causing the shining god to fall over.

"Nurarishin!" Great King Enma yelled in horrified shock. Did she really manage to defeat him so easily…?

But there was something much more unsettling than the fall of the light god.

Mai was absolutely silent about the fall of Nurarishin.

Within moments, Kokoro, Shinju, and Mao all came crashing into the central hall, holding nothing back as they knew the situation was tense right now. It seemed they had missed a lot of things…

And were about to witness the beginning of something else…

"Guys! What's goin' on here!?" Kokoro demanded to know, Great King Enma still pretty shocked to see the sight.

"Is something wrong with Mai?" Shinju asked, noticing her friend acting weird.

"...I think so…" Mao answered to the two.

The usually serene and gentle blonde started to have a dark aura form around her, floating to the center of the hall over the fallen body of Nurarishin. There was something undeniably wrong, the air growing more and more tense.

"...Rise…" Mai stated, her voice completely deadpan and devoid of anything. She put her hands to her side as a large pillar of darkness engulfed the central hall with a powerful gust of ominous winds. Rather manic laughter could be heard until the darkness finally calmed down, taking it's form.

First and most noticeably was what formerly took the form of Nurarishin. Taking his place was a massive abomination of black and violet, spiky tentacles tentacles. On top of it, there were arms and a humanoid head sticking out with long white tentacles for hair...quite an unruly sight to behold…

But even more unsettling was the one leading the charge, Mai. A powerful dark aura was causing her to float, having donned a torn up, corrupted looking gown that seemed to match the abomination she was conducting. To make matters worse, her hair changed to snow white and her eyes an eerie red-violet.

"Nurarihyon...let us destroy them…" Mai spoke up in a very dead sounding manner, the tentacle monster, Nurarihyon, responding accordingly.

The large, spiked tentacles of Nurarihyon slammed right onto the ground, causing the floor to crack and shake, throwing the remaining four off balance.

"Gah!" Great King Enma yelled, trying to keep his cool. "W-What's going on...What happened to Mai!?"

"I think it might have something to do with how she links her hearts with the yokai she summons…" Shinju stated as she analyzed the situation.

"So even if her yokai were to turn evil, she turns evil with them?" Mao concluded, looking nervous.

"Seems like it, and there's only one thing we can do right now!" Kokoro finished, getting out the Thunder Sacred Jewel and her azure yokai emblem. The other two nodded, getting out their respective jewels and emblems.

"Calm as a plain, the north blossoming with life! If you would please come forth, the Black Guardian...Genbu!" Shinju called first, a soothing black light coming from her emblem.

"The mind of the deep and near infinite ocean, let the eastern waves strike! If you would please come forth, the Azure Guardian...Seiryuu!" Kokoro yelled out, being enveloped within an azure light.

"Cloaked in snow, striking from the west when least expecting it! If you would please come forth…the White Guardian...Byakko!" Mao finished, a glistening white light topping it all off.

A trio of summoning and transformation sequences had been concluded, the trio having summoned their respective holy beast yokai in their beast forms, as well as donning matching threads. They all joined alongside Great King Enma, hopefully to be an even match against such a darkened force.

"...Tsk…" Mai commented on the assemble, lifting up one of her hands. Nurarihyon responded by thrashing his tentacles at the quartet, only to be stopped

"Ah!" Mao yelped, hastily defending himself with the wind and fire wheels he wielded. Thankfully it seemed to have worked for him, the tentacles aimed for him being knocked away.

"Not today, not any day you calamari fiend!" Byakko roared, pouncing on the knocked away tentacle attempting to come back for Mao. He kept a pretty solid pin on it despite being the smallest of the three beasts summoned.

"C'mon Mai, Nurari, snap right on out of it!" Kokoro shouted, managing to crudely wrap her nine section whip around one of the tentacles headed straight for her. "There's a lot of things I'd fight, but I don't want to have to fight you!"

Coiling around one tentacle and gripping another, Seiryuu seemed to have brewed up a plan. "The only hope we have now is to hold this...this thing down, and then one of us strikes!"

"Got it, start focusing your soultimate now, Enma!" Shinju instructed, using her staff to wrap up one of the tentacles aimed at her. It was a bit much to hold for Shinju, but she tried her best to keep her ground.

Great King Enma channeled powerful amounts of energy, focusing his hardest in a tense situation like right now.

Finally, with the simple fact she was an apatosaurus sized tortoise, Genbu was able to pin down the massive monster by using her front feet to pin Nurarihyon down. "Stand still...we can't let you hurt anyone...Not on my watch…"

"Now!" The group shouted from pinning down Nurarihyon, Great King Enma quickly taking a stance.

"Supreme Enma Bullet!" Enma yelled, finished focusing his energy and firing a powerful ball of violet energy. Mai was able to duck out of the way of such an attack, but Nurarihyon was less fortunate. It hit him square in the face, clearly doing a lot of damage.

"You...fools…" Mai stated, interrupting any victory before it could get started.

"Mai! Nurari! You have to stop yourselves!" Great King Enma started to question the girl. Mai still had that dead look in her eyes.

"Will you do...anything...?" Mai asked without a hint of any sort of energy in her tone.

"Yes! Please stop this!" Mao answered, Mai focusing a lot of her energy.

"Then…" Mai began, Nurarihyon managing to break free from everyone's grip. "...Perish…"

Having a violent noodle monster being unleashed proved to be quite difficult, as he wasn't going to let anyone pin him down so easily anymore…

Elsewhere, Suzaku was training Kaira under her wing quite literally. It was going well and peaceful for them until something caught the attention of Suzaku with the mere blowing of the wind.

"The winds of the north, east, and west…" Suzaku stated, looking around with her bird-like neck. "There's some serious danger, and I don't think the other Holy Beast Yokai are standing much of a chance right now…"

"You were able to get all that from just feeling the wind?" Kaira asked confused, Suzaku nodding.

"Yes, and I have a strong feeling where these winds have come from," Suzaku concluded, spreading her wings. "Now, please get on, we must not make a second of haste!"

Kaira climbed onto the back of the large vermillion peafowl, Suzaku taking off at high speeds into the sky as soon as Kaira was on her back. There was a serious crisis, and it couldn't be solved with just a few of them...it was going to have to take everyone…

The two had managed to fly to the yokai world's royal palace, the sight being quite uneasy. The clouds were dark, reeking of dangerous evil. There was a hole in the roof, easy enough for Suzaku to swoop right in.

However the sight within was not going so well. The other holy beasts and their summoners were all trying to hold off Nurarihyon, but it wasn't going very well. They were easily being knocked around like ragdolls.

Though Suzaku launched a ball of fire at the horrifying abomination, causing the others to notice her arrival.

"Suzaku!" The other three Holy Beast Yokai shouted in unison.

"And...Kaira?" Shinju and Kokoro questioned, looking confused, Kokoro looking about ready to suplex the snake king. Mao quitely stopped them before they could do any harm.

"It's...a long story," Mao explained to the two puzzled girls.

"There isn't a lot of time to talk!" Kaira shouted as he hopped off of Suzaku's back, swinging his blade at a tentacle coming his direction. "What we have to worry about is putting up with this thing!"

The fight between the others and Nurarihyon raged on, but things kept getting faster and hitting harder from Nurarihyon, being hard for the group to keep up with. It all kept going until…

"Argh!" Shinju yelped, realizing she was in grasp of one of the tentacles.

"You better let me go you overgrown cephalopod!" Kokoro yelled, having been snatched up as well.

"A-Ah! P-Put me down!" Mao yiped, being coiled up alongside the other two.

"You monster...hurting children!" Genbu gasped in shock, trying her best to charge at the mass of tentacles being puppeted by a corrupted Mai.

"I...do not...care…" Mai spoke, commanding a rather hard lash of tentacles at the tortoise, causing her to fall over on her back. This proved to be quite tricky, as at the end of the day, Genbu was indeed a tortoise, and being on one's back was a sticky situation.

"Stop this at once!" Seiryuu demanded, trying to spray the unruly being with water magic, but it had little to no effect, merely slightly damping such a monster. Before Seiryuu could follow up, he found himself quite harshly thrown into a nearby pillar, destroying it. The azure dragon found it hard to move underneath a surprisingly large amount of rubble on top of everything else.

Byakko had tried to sneak around the tentacled fiend to attempt to strike him from behind with his claws sharpened and ready. But alas, the tiger ended up getting knocked away by a strong tentacle, right into a wall. "Accursed bowl of squid ink dyed noodles…"

Mai aimed Nurarihyon's tentacles to finally grab up Enma and Kaira when they were taking a moment to refocus during the fight. Suzaku had attempted to protect the two, flapping her wings to create a fiery wind, but like the other beasts, she too was knocked into a wall, leaving a crater of an impact.

"Mai...why are you doing this? What's gotten into you!?" Great King Enma questioned once more, absolutely confused as to why Mai was acting this way.

"Why should I...care about you…?" Mai responded in a cold tone. "I only...live for the suffering of others…for power..."

"This isn't anything like you! The Mai I know would never in a billion trillion years say suffering is any good!" Kokoro yelled, getting pretty tense and emotional. "I mean, think about the amount of times you helped me without resorting to being brutal!"

The corrupted girl seemed to stop for a moment, recollecting moments...Initially encountering Kokoro spying for youkai activity...much more formally meeting her at the Sunset Mall...learning about that incident that shook her so much...helping her figure out herself and just who she was…

"We've been through so much Mai! Please listen to us, we can't lose you!" Shinju cried out, trying her best to make sure her voice was heard. "You've helped me and so many others so many times, it's truly amazing!"

More thoughts flowed through Mai's head...First going to the Swim Club...Foiling the plot of a corrupt student council president...encountering the Moon Kingdom...Helping whenever possible with her yoki abilities…

"I might've not known you for very long, but I see you as a true friend!" Mao shouted, his voice trying his hardest to raise up to be heard. "Y-You're one of the few people who's really spoken with me!"

Recent memories began to chime in...meeting Mao in St. Peanutsburg Library...Trying to save him from Tamamo no Mae with the help of Suzaku...Meeting up again and bonding on the bus to the resort…

"Listen I may have not gotten a chance to know you very well but…" Kaira added in. "But as much as I don't wanna admit it...encountering you and your pals helped me find out about myself…"

While only the memory of encountering Kaira at the soundstage and the Ryuu-gu courtyard came to mind, it was something Mai could recall…

"Please listen to us! We all know you're much stronger and far kinder than this…" Great King Enma yelled, clearly getting as emotional as everyone else. "You've helped us so much, so we're trying to help you by calling out to you!"

From those words, Mai began to recall once more. Hearing about the rise and fall of Enma from Yami...Actually encountering him in his corrupted, darkened state...and reaching her heart out to him despite all the odds stacked against her…

Memories, both happy and sad and in between, began to be reflected into the girl's mind...The ones she had shared with humans and yokai…

"...I…" Mai began to speak, her dead tone slowly becoming less and less so. The darkened aura began to fade away from her until…

"...I won't be held down like this anymore!" Mai finally yelled, reverting back to her normal self. She started to fall down, but she managed to pull out two things: the Fire jewel and the vermillion emblem.

"Burn it up in the southern skies above! If you would please come forth the Vermillion Guardian...Suzaku!" Mai shouted as she began to fall, undergoing a fiery vermilion transformation and landing gracefully. Suzaku seemed to have been rejuvenated as well, transforming into her more humanoid form.

Now that Nurarihyon was weakened, it would be easier for them to fight back now. Suzaku went to trying to free the one's trapped in Nurarihyon's tentacles, whereas Mai went over to help up the holy beast yokai get back up.

Once each beast reunited with their humanoid partner, they had transformed into their more humanoid forms to make them far less of an easy target for violent thrashes of tentacles.

"I think our best bet is to combine our powers with a combined attack," Suzaku suggested, would have easily started to break Nurarihyon's tentacles if they had any sort of skeletal bones in them.

"That could work, especially with how much dark energy Nurarihyon has been radiating…" Seiryuu concluded, before nodding. "Come, Kokoro, we have to get into position to the east!"

"Got it, cap'n, let's fry this joint!" Kokoro finished, running alongside her humanoid dragon companion. Everyone else got into their respective directions, holding hands with their beast companion as they felt strong surges of power within their hearts...

"Plains and Flora of the North…" Genbu and Shinju began to say together, a black yet gentle light starting to appear around them.

"Ice and Mountains of the West…" Byakko and Mao added in, a gentle white glow surrounding the two.

"Fire and Skies of the South…" Suzaku and Mai chimed in, radiating with vermillion light.

"Oceans and Rain of the East…" Seiryuu and Kokoro finished, glistening with an azure hue.

"Now, Power of the Holy Beast Elements!" All eight of them shouted, a pillar of highly powerful elemental energy that rose straight into the heavens itself.

The sheer force of such an attack was quite a sight to behold, and once it all faded out, Nurarihyon was no longer in the form of some horrifying abomination. Instead he took the form of a humanoid yokai with long silvery hair and black robes, complete with a tired, aged look in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Mai asked the white haired yokai with a sense of reassurance.

"I believe I am alright. I do apologize for that...ahem...rather unruly form," Nurarihyon apologized.

"All four of you seemed to have arrived...alongside your little helpers…" Tamamo no Mae commented, revealing herself out of the shadows, Yokai Sangokushi in her paws.

"That's...the Yokai Sangokushi!" Suzaku gasped, clenching her talon like hands into fists. "B-But how!?"

"Oh this little locket I don't need anymore…" Tamamo no Mae said, throwing the locket aside. "Either way, impressive you slops were able to defeat something as dangerous as a powerful yokai charged with that so called power of heart."

Tamamo no Mae gave a shrug and a grin. "Not like it'll do anything against me, you four are the types who used parts of your very souls to create something even equal to the disastrous one. Even he was able to easily overpower his own mother and father..."

"Wait...don't tell me…" Mai stated, looking horrified.

"Oh you silly little girl...the yokai of absolute disaster, strife, and discord...he's the combined soul of the yokai world's first twins, Noruka and Soruka!" Tamamo no Mae explained, flipping through the book before closing it. "Being the parents of an utter disaster, not sure if that's the title Suzaku and Byakko wanted…"

"I will make sure with my life you don't purposefully repeat something so...so disastrous!" Suzaku aggressively stated, getting more and more angry with each breath.

"Looks like I've angered the mama bird...How such bonds corrupt souls into behaving in such misguided ways of anger…" Tamamo no Mae said rather unamused. "Why get along, it's merely temporary and everyone has to fight one day or another."

Tamamo no Mae turned her back, still holding the book. "The last two of the jewels are with the twins. One's in the west, the other's to the east, in locations that are alike yet different, a place beloved in both the east and west." Tamamo no Mae stated, the others looking confused.

"But how did you even have time to obtain such knowledge!?" Seiryuu questioned, Tamamo no Mae giving a glare.

"While you were busy frying up an octopi dinner, I had done the spell to bring them forth somewhat." Tamamo no Mae explained. "Their seals have been lifted, all they need is to be awakened, and I'll be good to go."

The evil fox yokai took a stance, putting the book to her side. "And now I must take them both in my control! If I'll go east or west first, that'll be for you to find out!"

With a quick snap, Tamamo no Mae was gone, leaving the group stunned.

"Oh no...We can't let Tamamo no Mae summon something horribly disastrous…" Shinju stated, looking worried.

"And hurt someone's own beloved children in the process…" Mao added in, Great King Enma thinking about something.

"I don't mean to break the tension but…" Great King Enma began. "If I'm a descendant of Huang Long and he's made of parts of you four...does that make you guys all my great great great grandparents or something?"

The four holy beast yokai looked confused and exchanged puzzled looks before nodding.

"I suppose so technically speaking…" Seiryuu stated a bit unamused.

"Does that mean I can start calling you great great great grandson then?" Byakko asked, before Kaira stepped in, the tossed locket in his hands.

"Either way, I think we're all gonna have to split up…" Kaira began to get things back on track. "I...I can't forgive Tamamo for merely using me and my passed on mother like this!"

"It's settled then," Genbu began, keeping a calm tone in these troubling times. "Me, Suzaku, Mai, Shinju, and Great King Enma will go to the west. Byakko, Seiryuu, Mao, Kokoro and Kaira, please head to the east."

Both groups had split off to their respective sides, taking one last look at one another before heading off into their directions.

"Good luck, everyone!" Mai said, looking to go off with Suzaku and the others.

"Stay safe everyone, and don't let your guard down!" Kokoro waved back, going off with her team.

The times were becoming quite tense, who knew which of the twins Tamamo no Mae would be going after first. The end was drawing near, and everyone had to keep their head up and focused on winning in a situation that was either win or lose.


	7. Tale 7: Positively Burning

**Tale 7: Positively Burning**

Time was very precious and sparse right now, as Mai and friends had not only to worry about not one, but two things getting into the wrong hands. Tamamo no Mae could simply not get control of Noruka or Soruka, or else everything would be finished.

Headed to the west was a party consisting of Mai, Shinju, Suzaku, Genbu, and Great King Enma. The sun had already begun to set into the western skies, night time practically taking over the sky now as a few stars began to gently sparkle in the sky.

"This seems to be the location," Suzaku commented, sensing a strong aura as the brought the group in for a landing. Where they landed was a bit...puzzling.

"I mean, I like Max Ansley World's Worldwide Park of Tomorrow and everything...but it would be odd to seal up one of the twins here…" Mai commented, looking around the park.

Indeed the group had arrived into the Worldwide Park of Tomorrow, a park that celebrated the world and it's past, present, and future. It was best known for small yet elaborate recreations of various buildings and monuments from all across the world that surrounded a massive lake.

"The two were sealed up over six thousand years ago, so it's entirely possible the land was were they were sealed before the park was built…" Shinju analyzed, taking in the surroundings. "Though, I can certainly feel a powerful yoki aura nearby…"

Before another word could reach anyone's mind, something began to rise out of the lake's deep waters with a strong magical presence. Once risen, it took the form of a floating island, with a singular building in the center and a volcano to a larger section in the back.

"Is this a part of the nighttime show?" One of the park goers asked.

"I'm not sure, it's been years since I've visited…" Another said. "Quite impressive if it's all staged…"

"I think we've found our answer," Great King Enma sheepishly remarked at the sight.

"Well, we should get a move on now, shouldn't we?" Suzaku suggested, being in her larger beast form. "Everyone get on, though I'd recommend you stay in your less bestial form, Genbu. It will make my life a whole lot easier."

The group got onto the back of the large bird, arriving onto the floating island. It was oddly quiet, and everyone looked around to investigate.

"I believe this might be a major issue if not taken care of properly…" Suzaku observed, looking at the volcano. It had steam starting to puff out, signifying it was still active. At the base of it there seemed to be a few large rocks.

"Indeed, so we should stop it before it explodes…" Great King Enma stated, before nodding in conclusion. "Me, Suzaku, and Genbu will help stop the volcano."

"And me and Shinju will see if there's any clues in the building there," Mai stated in response, giving a gentle nod. "Hopefully we can convince Noruka to join us!"

"I'm sure you'll be able to," Genbu stated with a serene look in her eyes.

"If you can get past my cold exterior, Noruka shouldn't be too different," Suzaku added in, spreading her wings.

"Now, that volcano isn't going to stop itself, is it?" Genbu concluded, transforming into her larger, much more durable beast form, the trio of beast and king going after the volcano. This left Mai and Shinju no choice but to investigate the small building.

It was a small but still spacious looking home from ancient times, only having one real door to enter. Though much to the girl's shock as Mai reached out to the door…

"It just opened?" Mai questioned a bit confused. "I thought it would at least be locked…"

"Guess they blew all their budget on actually sealing the place as opposed to any kind of door lock," Shinju commented with a shrug, following inside to the investigation.

The interior was far less a place that allegedly held an ancient evil and more of a cozy, lavish home. There was a nice kitchen, living area, and a locked room that was presumably the bedroom.

"At least ancient evil lives in luxury it looks like," Shinju commented, looking at the kitchen. There was a steaming, fresh bowl of ramen on the kitchen table, still being incredibly fresh and appetizing despite being sealed away for over six thousand years. "I'll investigate in here, why not check out the living area?"

"G-Got it!" Mai responded, a bit puzzled at what Shinju was planning on doing. Maybe there were clues in there Mai might miss in the cozy living area. There were a few soft chairs, a smaller table...though on the table there was a scroll, glistening with a shiny wrapping containing the contents.

"Would it hurt to take a look, would it?" Mai asked, opening the scroll to see the contents. What followed was an opening statement written in solid gold ink.

"To the one who has stumbled across this abode...I hope you understand the powers that lurk within it…And the danger is possesses if given to the wrong hands..." The opening statements started, before going into deep detail with a few illustrations to give Mai a more solid visualization...

The strange flashback Mai witnessed by simply reading the inscriptions took her to a time long since passed. The sun was gently rising over a torn battlefield, hundreds if not thousands of yokai and even wild animals wounded or in worse condition. In the skies starting to clear of clouds, it seemed there was a great scar across the sky, one half blue and the other half a yellow-green.

A powerful, golden light overlooked the three, being a being of both man and beast dressed in emperor's clothing. He had a gentle gaze as he held a book in his hands.

"What's happening, Huang Long?" Byakko asked, looking around the split sky.

"The process I had to do in order to split those two came at a great cost," Huang Long explained. "The bridge that once connected humans and yokai had to be shattered…So traveling between both realms is now quite difficult..."

"But is it possible to bridge the way again?" Genbu questioned with concern.

"Perhaps, if a heart of pure light from one world helps a dark, broken heart from another, the bridge may appear again…" Huang Long explained, stroking his chin in thought. "But until that day of fate arrives, two of you must be in the realm of man and the other of yokai…"

The four all looked at Huang Long, before looking at each other, worried and concerned.

"But...where are we going to go?" Seiryuu questioned, Huang Long looking at the four.

"The winds of the north and south will go to the realm of man, whereas the winds of the east and west will reside within the realm of yokai," Huang Long explained, each beast looking at who they would be with.

"Seriously? I have to be with smartie blue-hoo scales here?" Byakko questioned in a peeved manner. "Personally I'd prefer to live in dangerously snowy mountains and serve as a guide to your children, oh great one Huang Long. The further from the sea the better."

"Well I'm thankful that the dragon palace is quite deep under the oceans of the yokai world," Seiryuu commented with the slightest hint of being displeased. "It keeps myself from losing intelligence by the yapping of an incompetent hairball."

"Quiet you, at least I didn't father a glorified salmon," Byakko quipped back at the azure dragon.

"The realm of man is one of grand biodiversity and life, correct?" Genbu questioned to herself. "I look forward to bringing peace to all that live, from the smallest fly to the largest whale…it all sounds quite interesting and I look forward to seeing it unfold."

"Huang Long, in the tomb of these events and prior ones, did you include where my children were sealed?" Suzaku asked, getting to the point as opposed to bickering. Huang Long lowered his head.

"Yes, but revealing such a location to you directly would undo their seal," Huang Long explained. "As much as I know you miss your children, it's for their safety…"

Suzaku spread her wings despite her injuries, looking at Huang Long. "Then I'll search them myself, all across the world of man and once I can find an opening, in the world of yokai as well."

"Suzaku, I would hate to question you but…" Genbu asked her fellow beast in a sweet, gentle tone. "But are you sure about unleashing the possibility of destruction like this again if you do find them?"

The vermillion bird gave a look back. "I will make sure within every fiber of my soul they will not fuse like that again. I'll make sure they don't feel that amount of sheer stress and pressure and eliminate anything that would cause such a thing."

"I see…" Huang Long commented, starting to float into the air as ten jewels began to surround him. "I'll leave the Yokai Sangokushi in the hands of unlikely guardians, and these jewels to be scattered across both realms. Let when the bridge returns, that all four winds bring you all together once more…if a grave danger were to arise again..."

Mai took a step back from the inscription, knowing full well the details she had read.

"Maybe I should go get Suzaku, I'm unsure about accidentally awakening her son…" Mai commented, walking away from the sealed bedroom door with the inscription on it and out into the main living and dining area.

"Oh hey Mai, what did you find out?" Shinju asked, opening up chopsticks near a steaming bowl of Ramen.

"A lot of things, but most importantly, where did you get that ramen?" Mai questioned her friend.

"It was just sitting out here, perfectly fresh too," Shinju informed her friend, starting to dig in. "I've inspected it, it isn't poisoned or anything and I figured I shouldn't let such fine cookery go to waste."

"Hopefully it wasn't intended for anyone...I'm going to go get the others, alright?" Mai responded, heading out of the quaint little settlement and onto the main outdoor area of the floating island. Aside from the looming volcano, it was a dazzling sight to see the park merely look like a small replica from so high up above.

"Were you able to find anything inside?" Suzaku asked, flying down to greet the blonde after helping Genbu and Great King Enma put some rocks into the large volcano.

"Yes, Noruka is indeed in there but the door to his room is locked with a strong seal," Mai explained to the bird yokai. "I only get my magic when I've had a heart to heart with a yokai, since I'm just a normal girl. Were you able to stop the volcano?"

"That volcano should not be a threat to us anymore," Great King Enma explained, dusting off his hands as Genbu followed him down the volcanic mountain.

"We should go get Noruka before something else happens," Genbu stated, having done a lot of the heavy lifting in her tortoise form, shifting back into her elderly woman one.

"Right-" Mai tried to say, only for something to cut her off.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the structure seen above the Lagoon of Nations, it does not pose a threat to our nightly presentation of Lights of a Hundred Nations. Our presentation of dazzling light and magic shall begin in 15 minutes, so please stay seated," An announcer voice came on, loud enough to be heard all across the park and even on the floating island…

...And loud enough to be heard by someone.

Within the sealed bedroom, underneath a mound of soft blankets and pillows, a lilac ear tipped with gold twitched at the noise.

"Oi...who's makin' this racket…" The figure said, stretching as he woke up. He had red hair much like Suzaku, and wore an outfit consisting of vermillion and black, highlighted with gold. He grabbed a nearby red and white war fan, holding it in his hand.

"I'm gonna show em' who's boss!" The voice continued, unlocking the door and starting to step out of his room. "After I get something to snack on, how long have I been asleep for?"

Upon stepping out the yokai stopped, noticing Shinju at the table.

"Hm? You're…" Shinju asked, finishing the last bits of ramen, leaving the red haired yokai shocked.

"You're the one eating all my food! How did you even get in!?" The red haired yokai yelled, ready to incinerated Shinju right where she was. Grabbing the bowl and running, the dark haired girl made a run for it.

"So Noruka should be sealed in that building here-" Great King Enma observed, only to have Shinju bolt on out with bowl in one hand and her emblem in another.

"Yeah! No time to explain, Genbu, we gotta do the thing!" Shinju quickly stammered together, throwing the bowl aside and getting out the jewel needed. "Calm as a plain, the north blossoming with life! If you would please come forth, the Black Guardian...Genbu!"

Once transformed Shinju now had her handy staff, swiftly making a run from Noruka. Now she could defend herself if he got too rough. Suzaku took an observation of this, flying into the situation.

"Noruka!" Suzaku yelled, flying down to investigate the aforementioned yokai, the latter giving a shocked, weirded look.

"Ah geez ma, don't get yourself involved with these stupid clowns!" Noruka shouted back, summoning a wall of molten rock to keep the vermillion bird in place within a cubical prison. "I'll take care of em' no problem! Just watch me!"

"Shinju, try to hold off Noruka as best you can," Genbu asked, transforming into her far larger beast form. "I'm going to keep trying to block off that volcano with Great King Enma."

"Got it!" Shinju nodded, taking up a stance as the confrontation between the two sides began. As Noruka charged right at Shinju with his claws bearing, she batted him away with her staff, mangagin to counter and hold him off as best she could with fluid, swift movements.

"Do you really think you can keep up a fight without trying to attack?" Noruka pondered rather aggressively with a harsh hiss. He pointed his fan to Shinju, holding it tensely. "You're boring me!"

"Take that!" Shinju shouted, managing to knock Noruka's fan out of his hand with her staff with a hefty defensive swing then smack him square in the face. The fan flung a good distance away from Noruka, promptly ticking him off.

"Why you…!" Noruka hissed, readying his other hand with long, sharp claws readied. "Take this, Crimson Claw!"

A powerful slash of crimson red energy was made into a swift motion, able to knock Shinju back into a nearby rock. Heavy pants could be heard from her, as she shakily held her staff.

"I'm not going to give in!" Shinju yelled, slowly starting to stand up as she was going to continue to fight.

"Give up already! You're too weak to keep going!" Noruka yelled angrily, holding out his fan. A fiery glow began to appear around the crimson haired yokai. "I'll be impressed if you can miss this!"

"Shinju! Look out!" Mai yelled, tackling down her friend as the words "Noruka Beam!" could be heard shouted across the island and a fiery beam of energy blasting just a hair above the two girls. The impact was enough to leave a smoldering hole on a large nearby rock, steaming from being melted right through.

"Tsk, of course you had a stupid friend dived in to save you," Noruka snarked, quite angry that his attack missed. "Now scram you two, unless you're both going to put up a fight!"

"Listen, Noruka, you don't want to fight us! We're-" Mai tried to say, only for Noruka to fire a blast of raging fire at the blonde. She managed to hop out of the way, just barely.

"Shut up! I'm not here to listen to you try to give me a reason not to fight!" Noruka yelled back, as steaming and smoldering as the fire he launched. "There's always a reason to fight, coward!"

"Noruka! We don't want to fight you! We want to help you!" Mai pleaded, trying her hardest to convince Noruka. The crimson haired yokai snarled one again.

"Then get lost!" Noruka shouted back with so much force and anger, blasting Mai away with a wave of fiery energy. Mai was sent back into the wall of the abode, something falling out of her coat pocket as she fell onto the ground, recoiled from the sheer blast.

Mai could see that she had a yokai jewel fall out of her pocket, her one and only royal violet one with regal detail. Slowly trying to get up, she grabbed the jewel, but began to fumble around clumsily and losing her balance, ending up at a decaying part of the floating island and was on a descent downwards.

"Mai!" Shinju yelled, trying to hold back Noruka and his fan with her staff.

"My friend true of heart, I call you forth in this great time of need!" Mai began to hastily recite, getting out her watch and spinning the jewel within. "Heart to heart…"

It seemed like the blonde was finished, falling into the dark lake, as the last moments of sunset had finally gone through, the sky becoming dark to set the dreary tone.

"Oh no…" Genbu gasped in horrified shock as the blonde made a hard splash into the lake. She still had to be at the volcano to prevent it from erupting...if only she was faster and less...large and slow.

"Mai, no!" Suzaku yelled, trying to break free from the igneous rock prison. But it was no use. Not even with how powerful as she was, it was near impossible to break free to help the fallen blonde.

"There's no other options other than for me to go in myself!" Great King Enma yelled, jumping off the edge of the island and after Mai. Was it impulsive? Yes, but he couldn't just sit around and not take any risks waiting around. Besides his work with the volcano was done.

It seemed hopeless, but he had to try no matter what at this point, the scent of the salty lagoon could be smelled, the feel and taste was all the much closer now…

The moment Great King Enma touched into the body of dark water, a beam of magical light shot right out of it.

Mai rose out of the lake, the light making her rise up. Once the light died down, she floated gracefully in new threads. The blonde now wore an ornate, red and gold uniform that regal guardsmen would wear, with blazing flairs and details similar to that of Enma himself. In her hand was a simple yet regal blade made from crystalized crimson fires.

"Mai!?" Great King Enma yelled, shocked that Mai was alright.

"Seemed our bond was able to pull us through after all!" Mai cheerfully stated, not being close to damp from falling into the water. She floated next to the great king, holding out the sword. "Now we have no time to waste!"

"Right! Noruka isn't going to take your words for an answer, so we're going to have to do it another way!" Great King Enma finished, the duo flying back up onto the island.

Shinju was at about at her limit trying to hold off Noruka between a rock and her staff. She didn't exactly have the best upper muscle strength, but she kept trying to hold him back with the enhanced durability Genbu's bond granted her.

"I'm not going to let you get out of control!" Shinju responded, trying to hold her own. Noruka was able to weakly wrangle a clawed arm free and snapped his fingers, sending a small but strong blast of fire between the two.

"What was that you were saying again?" Noruka questioned, looking at the girl who was flung into the rock. From all the combat she was doing, this blast ended up making her transform back into her normal self.

"Back off!" Mai yelled, jumping onto the floating island and delivering a strike of firey energy to Noruka as she stood in front of Shinju, Great King Enma soon following up with a ball of violet fire.

"W-What the!?" Noruka yelled in shock. "How in the name of the southwest beasts are you alive!?"

"You could say I'm a descendant of the great Huang Long," Great King Enma stated, folding his arms in a smug fashion. "And you should because that's what I am!"

"And I ask my friends to help me out!" Mai added in, nowhere near as confident as the great king before her. "A-And Enma here is my friend!"

"Is that so?" Noruka asked unamused at the two's introduction as he tapped his fan in his free, clawed hand. He gritted his teeth as a fiery aura began to charge around him. "Well let's see if your stupid friendship can withstand this!"

Noticing that Shinju may be in danger, Genbu quickly changed out of her beast form to run in after Shinju. Well, at least as fast as her aged body would allow her to anyways.

Finally, the aura around Noruka had finally reached maximum power, his eyes glowing a fiery crimson.

"Positive Burning Circle!" Noruka shouted, unleashing a strong wave of fire across the whole parameter of the island.

Genbu was able to defend the injured Shinju with her mighty shield, as Great King Enma and Mai stood and took the fire as best as they could. Thank goodness with their heart to heart, fire felt more like a warm summer breeze as opposed to actual burning flames.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our presentation of our nightly presentation of Lights of a Hundred Nations, a dazzling showcase of light and magic from all across the world is about to begin. Please remain seated and be courteous to others during out presentation," The gentle yet straightforward announcer stated, moments after he became quiet a sweeping orchestra soundtrack began to play as the crowd below cheered.

Once the wave of flames died down, Mai and Great King Enma stood strongly, still good and ready.

"You're still standing!?" Noruka yelled in frustration, stamping his foot down a little. "I'm going to make sure you two stay down like your other friend there!"

The duo turned around briefly, watching as Genbu got to work on healing as best as she could to Shinju. The two then faced forward to Noruka, taking a fighting stance.

"We aren't going anywhere until you stop!" Mai responded, holding out her sword as she charged in after Noruka.

The two clashed against one another for a while, jumping up rocky structures and slowly but surely up the large volcanic mountain that had been blocked off. But she had to continue her fight, gracefully swishing her crimson blade against the other's attacks.

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you?" Noruka asked Mai, trying to claw at her face. She continued to block, standing a bit taller due to the slope of the volcano.

"If you would stop fighting I would stop fighting!" Mai responded back, knocking Noruka down with a hefty strike. Goodness she wasn't even that strong and athletic yet she managed to do that…

"Take this!" Great King Enma yelled, hurling a ball of violet flames at Noruka as the redhead yokai was being knocked down.

"Why you…!" Noruka hissed as he slowly got back up, turning his focus to that of Great King Enma.

In a fit of rage, Noruka charged at Great King Enma at alarmingly high speeds, dragging him up the mountain as he gained enough speed to start floating up and up towards the blocked peak. Mai began to run up towards Noruka, but she was a bit slow and it seemed the floating she had earlier had worn off. The lights from several exploding fireworks helped illuminate the path, making sure Mai didn't trip over too many rocks on her way upwards.

As the fireworks went off, reflections in the lagoon showing moments from world history, from the three kingdoms era in china, the hundred years war in france, to the revolutionary war in america, several fireworks had streaked right against the rocky prison Suzaku was contained within. The explosives created a large enough dent for the vermillion bird to simply punch her way out in her less bestial form, freeing her at last!

Noruka had finally reached the summit of the mountain, throwing Great King Enma into the large rock that was clogging up the volcano with a sheer amount of force.

"Hang in there, I'm coming for you!" Mai screamed, having caught up just in time and jumping in after Great King Enma with speed and force she never thought was possible for her.

Great King Enma was a mere half inch away from smashing into the boulder as Mai caught him just in time, slamming the blade into the boulder to keep themselves steady…But...with the speed and force Mai was going at…

"I got yooo-oh no!" Mai yelped, the boulder blocking the volcano shattering like mere glass. The two began to lose their balance, falling in for a lava cooked demise.

Noticing the danger, Suzaku managed to transform into her true beast form and fly as fast as she possibly could after the two teens, swooshing right past Noruka.

"Eh...who? Wait?" Noruka questioned briefly, looking around confused.

"Don't try to get too cooked now," Suzaku remarked, catching the two on her on her back and quickly flying out the the volcano.

"We aren't too much on the hook…" Great King Enma remarked, Suzaku just looking confused at the blond's remark.

"Wait, ma!?" Noruka realized, seeing the vermillion bird fly overhead with Mai and Great King Enma on her back. How did she even get out?

"Yes it's me! You should know better than to treat your mother like that!" Suzaku spoke up to her child, floating past him.

"I was trying to protect you from those clowns, that's all!" Noruka responded back, pointing to Great King Enma and Mai riding on her back.

"My apologies, but please learn to treat company better, alright?" Suzaku scolded slightly, breaking Noruka to his limit.

"Alright that's it! I'm going to show you that I'm just as strong as you!" Noruka snapped back, an explosive and fiery aura starting to surround him, much more powerful and dangerous than the last one.

"I think it might be best that we stay airborne…" Mai thought aloud, leaning in a bit closer so Suzaku could hear her. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, in the meantime start concentrating your power...I think this might be a dangerous attack!" Suzaku responded, flying around to where Genbu and Shinju were.

"Oh goodness, Suzaku, you're alright!" Genbu greeted, having just finished the healing on Shinju, so much so that she was back into her transformed state.

"Thank you, but we have worse matters now," Suzaku explained, keeping herself hovering but still enough to be heard. "Noruka's charging up his ultimate attack, one with so much explosive energy that is can release molten rock straight from the ground!"

"So if that volcano were to erupt, it would be bad news?" Shinju asked, Suzaku nodding.

"Yes, it would be devastation in its purest form…that can easily spread beyond this floating island," Suzaku responded, Genbu looking down at the park goers watching the fireworks show. She soon stood up, holding her staff.

"You can count on us to make sure none of the wildlife or innocents below get hurt!" Genbu responded, Shinju soon joining her with her own staff.

"There's no time like the present to get to work!" Shinju stated, holding out her staff as Genbu gave a nod, helping Shinju onto her back as she transformed into her much larger and durable true beast form.

Shinju took a deep breath, starting to focus her energy much like Noruka was with his. However, this was going to be for the protection of the innocent, not the destruction of them.

"Now! Nature's Greatest Healing Call!" Shinju and Genbu yelled together, unleashing a powerful wave of energy to the surface. The ducks native to the lagoon, the squirrels, lizards, and birds who naturally resided within the many trees and the many trees themselves started to glow with a powerful serene energy. It seemed through nature itself, the animals and plants were all able to construct a magic barrier from spirit and will itself! And perhaps a bit of yoki as well, but mostly spirit and will.

It was just in time as well, as Noruka had finally finished charging his energy as well. He slammed his hand onto the ground, eyes glowing crimson…

"Destruction Burning Eruption!" Noruka yelled as loud as he humanely could the volcano exploding with hot magma just as more fireworks outside began to explode. Smaller wells of volcanic rock exploded as well, as the larger volcano made it rain fiery, volcanic rocks from a burning sky.

Suzaku, with Mai and Great King Enma on her back began flying straight upwards, spinning and dodging the volcanic rocks with such speed and precision. The two teens on the bird's back were holding their hands on Mai's sword, a powerful energy flowing through both of their hearts.

"Mai! Enma! Do what you do best!" Suzaku called out, having flown up high enough that the volcanic rocks were not so much an issue, but Noruka was nothing more than a small red dot.

Mai and Great King Enma nodded, jumping off the back of Suzaku as they dived downwards, reciting words together as they began to gracefully plummet with the sword pointed to their target.

"Burning Eight Gate Opening Strike!" Mai and Enma shouted with all their hearts, plummeting in a powerful comet of sparkling fire downwards. They kept going faster and faster, the finale of the show ramping up and up until they finally managed to strike Noruka down, a powerful yet gentle blast radiating from the impact. The grand finale of the show had concluded, the audience wildly cheering as the two finished their final strike.

Everyone ended up going back to normal, Mai and Shinju were back into their civilian clothes and Genbu and Suzaku were in their more humanoid forms. After such an impact, Noruka slowly got up.

"My head hu...Nah I can't say that…" Noruka mumbled to himself, trying to get his grounding up and not try to lose a drop of his moxie. He tried to stand up, only to fall back over. Suzaku quickly flew in by her child's side.

"Now Noruka, what did I tell you about your limits?" Suzaku asked, Noruka giving a bit of a huff.

"Ughhh mom I don't like to think I have any limits…!" Noruka griped slightly, before giving another sigh. "But I think I might've met them after...that…"

The fiery twin gave a bit of a sigh, looking embarrassed as heck, his eyes starting to water a bit. "I-I'm also sorry for treating you the way I did. I got a bit too much into it and didn't want you to get too hurt, t-that's all!"

"Are you crying?" Mai asked, Noruka looking up with waterfalls in his eyes at this point.

"N-n-no! Th-there's just s-something in m-my eye! A-And I j-just missed my ma a-after so long!" Noruka blubbered out, before finally crying into the vermilion bird's chest quite audibly and loudly.

"M-Ma I'm so sorry! I-It's been so long! I-I don't know what I-I was thinking!" Noruka kept crying his eyes out, the mother bird gently patting him on the back.

"Now now, I know you get very much into fighting, you have a true passionate spirit for that," Suzaku reassured with a gentle loving smile, seeming to get a bit of the waterworks herself. "In fact I'm overjoyed to finally see you again too, I can't physically describe the feeling myself to be so happy…"

The two cried it out for a bit while longer, deeply embracing. Part of Suzaku's wish seemed to have come true, to finally see one of her children again after such a long time. It was clear Noruka felt the same way as well, homesickness must have gotten pretty bad after so long…

Soon the others joined in all the hugging, giving a warm embrace to the recently reunited family. Once he cleared up, Noruka looked a bit confused at the sight of all the new folks.

"I never asked, but who exactly are these people again?" Noruka asked curiously, Genbu folding her arms a bit as Noruka sighed a little. "...Aside from Genbu."

"You could say they're...friends I've met?" Suzaku responded, stroking her chin as she looked a bit nerveously at Mai and whispered "that's the word, right?" to the blonde, getting a reassuring nod in response.

"We can catch up a bit inside your place," Shinju suggested sheepishly. "I'll try my best to make some ramen for you."

"Sounds like a deal," Noruka responded with, leading the group into the abode to settle down and talk things over.

"...And that is basically everything you need to know about everything that has lead to this point," Mai finished, looking like she was about to fall over from talking so much, quickly guzzling down a cup of water. "Any...Any questions?"

Most of the group said no, but there was a singular response from the kitchen area of the apartment like quarters.

"...Will bringing the water to 200 degrees celcius make the noodles boil in half the time?" Shinju asked, slowly looking over a small cookbook as she was working on preparing some ramen.

"Uhh, just try to follow the instructions as best as you can," Mai suggested, Shinju giving a nod in response.

"Gotcha gotcha, may take a few liberties with it though," Shinju concluded, getting back to work.

Noruka folded his arms a bit on the table. "I can say I don't like the sound of that Tamamo no Mae lady. Think she used to hang out with Ma and she always creeped me the heck out."

"Same that," Great King Enma added in. "It's no surprise she ended up becoming such a foul criminal in the Yokai World, and has gotten so incredibly dangerous with her plan."

"Well, I'm gonna kick her butt! Right into the sun!" Noruka responded, seeming ready to fight right here and now.

Mai was about to say something, only to get a message on her phone. A pretty important message to the group chat Mai had formed alongside Kokoro and Shinju way back when they first met had been received. Though, a few more members have been added since then.

 _Harmonious is Loading..._

 _...Because loading is keeeeeewl (suggested by a fabulous user)_

 _Open groupchat: Bejeweled Youkais_

 _Diana: HEY! DUDES! EVERYONE_

 _Ruby: Yeah? U｡･_ _.･｡_ _U?_

 _Granite: What_

 _Sapphire: Yes? (sorry, cooking)_

 _Dian: Long story, Soruka's ok now._

 _Diana: sorukas been chilled out so we good fam_

 _Diana: shoot yeah kiara said it_

 _Diana: *kaira_

 _Ruby: Oh! That's really really good to hear! U(･▽･_ _)U_

 _Ruby: Noruka's our friend now too!_

 _Granite: So should we meet in the morning? We're dead tired over here_

 _Diana: mood_

 _Ruby: Mood!_

 _Dian: oh mood_

 _Sapphire: Big Mood (still cooking)_

 _Peridot: Either way the morning would be acceptable after we've rested._

 _Ruby: Oh hello Mao! When did you get here?_

 _Peridot: I was busy, I'll explain in the morning._

 _Dian: Yea a lot was. Unpacked._

 _Granite: Got it got it, we'll all catch up soon._

 _Granite: ...I think something is on fire, brb._

As Great King Enma ran over to inspect the fire Shinju might have accidentally caused, Suzaku looked a bit curious.

"What exactly are you doing on that plank of metal?" Suzaku asked, Mai putting her phone back in my pocket.

"It's how I contact the others in a matter that fully reflects the urgency of the situation," Mai explained. "I found out the others over across the pond have managed to calm Soruka down and we'll meet them after we've rested."

Suzaku looked about ready to fly up out of her seat, as Noruka tilted his head a little.

"Baby bro's okay...?" Noruka questioned feeling a mix of emotions as Mai confirmed with a nod.

"A-Anyways! Dinner's ready!" Shinju said, coming in with a few bowls of ramen. "Things came out a bit crispy!"

"Is that what that smoke was all about?" Genbu questioned, looking at the noodles. They seemed fine save for a few burnt edges.

"Maybe?" Shinju responded sheepishly, sitting down to have a good relaxed dinner with everyone else.

Things had settled down for the group, after dinner, resting, and maybe a shower, they will be ready to head out to meet with the others. With Noruka and Soruka on their side, maybe they will be able to finally defeat Tamamo no Mae?

Elsewhere, in a fanciful resort that overlooked the World Wide Park of tomorrow, a man was reclining in his hotel room. He had messy, dark hair and sheepish grey, almost blue eyes behind somewhat thickly rimmed glasses. He looked a bit overworked and had a cute looking charm hanging from his belt. On the table in the hotel room there were several papers, mostly containing words to a speech, alongside some photos and cute sketches.

"Mr. Karou Hayashi?" A young woman asked over the hotel room's phone.

"Mmm yes?" The man, Karou, responded with a bit sheepishly.

"Are you going to be ready to do your meet up tomorrow?" The woman, presumably an assistant asked. "While I'm sure international fans of Nyanpan Rider 018 are ecstatic to meet you and hear you speak, you always seem overworked sir…"

'Don't worry too much about it," Karou responded with some genuine enthusiasm. "As crazy Dream Kingdom Park can be with the most visited park in the world, I'm prepared."

"Great, see you in the morning, sir!" The woman finished, hanging up. Karou adjusted his glasses as he looked outside, seeing a spec of that was the mysterious floating island.

"...What on earth is that thing?" Karou asked himself under his breath. "I swear strange things have been surfacing too much lately…"

Karou looked over one of his photos, him and a young woman with long, dark violet hair at their wedding. "Almost as strange as you mysteriously disappearing without a trace behind…"


	8. Tale 8: Negative Freezing

**Tale 8: Negative Freezing**

Off to the east was the destination for Kokoro, Mao, Seiryuu, Byakko, and Kaira. A chill morning was starting to rise into the east. Like the others, it was up to them to stop Tamamo no Mae from claiming control of one of the Ruka twins, possibly causing a great, deadly calamity.

On the way to the far east, the cold winds made Byakko recall a time from a time long ago…To bring his mind to a peaceful set in these harsh times...

It was a dark, cold windy night on the mountain range Byakko called home. A harsh blizzard was blowing through the mountain's range, blanketing it with snow and ice.

While the white tiger was one who never really got company visiting him, he could feel a specific yoki aura among the harsh peltings of snow and ice. It was a strange presence, since it felt very much like his own.

Searching through the thick blankets of snow, he found a young yokai with crimson red hair completely out cold, alongside a similar looking one with black hair. From reading their yoki, it was clear to Byakko the two were still alive, just passed out.

"Poor things…" Byakko muttered to himself, lowering his head to get a closer look. He looked around a bit worried before giving a deep sigh.

"I suppose since I'm the only one around, I must…" Byakko finished, managing to fling the twins onto his back and trudge through the blizzard into the deep cave network he called home.

It wasn't exactly a lavish settlement, but Byakko managed to huddle the two into blankets he had kept around and start a small fire. After a short while, the two began to wake up.

"Mmmnnnghh…" The black haired of the twin yokai mumbled, gently rubbing his eyes.

"...What time is it…" The red headed twin asked as he stretched. Byakko approached the two, slightly startling them.

"I'm unsure about the time, but it was good timing I found you two," Byakko remarked, giving a smile with his cunning feline face. "You two would have surely gotten far too cold and perish in this weather."

"To be fair, I'm not too affected by chillier weather," The black haired twin stated. "It's my brother who's weaker to the cold."

"S-Shut up!" The red haired twin snapped back, wrapping himself tighter in the blanket he was given.

"By the way, what are your names and what brings you over to my domain?" Byakko asked the two curiously.

"I'm Noruka, and this is my baby twin brother Soruka," The red haired twin, Noruka, introduced for the white tiger.

"You realize I'm only younger by fifteen minutes, right?" Soruka responded, before getting things back on track. "Anyways, we've been traveling all around to learn skills from the Four Divine Beast Rulers across the land."

"Yeah, we've met up with Great Bird Queen of the South Suzaku, Great Dragon King of the East Seiryuu, Great Tortoise Queen of the North Genbu! They taught us a lot about fighting and being strong!" Noruka added cheerfully.

"We got lost on our way to finding Great Tiger King of the West Byakko," Soruka sighed, looking a bit miffed. "As you could probably tell…"

"I see, why is it you seek strength, then?" Byakko asked, having not revealed his identity to the two.

"Simple, we're training to inherit so we have to make sure we're the strongest among all yokai and even humans!" Noruka stated firmly. Soruka simply nodded.

"So you're seeking aid from the other beasts?" Byakko responded. "Funny you say that, since I quite know the Byakko fellow pretty well."

"Really?" Soruka asked. Byakko simply responded with a nod.

"We go pretty far back, in fact you've been speaking with him this entire time!" Byakko revealed, shocking the two. He then quickly transformed into his more humanoid form. "Now try to rest up you two, I'll teach you the ways of being swift like the winter wind and striking so quietly the blanket of snow is kept in tact."

"That's great, can we do it now, please?" Noruka asked, Byakko folding his arms a bit.

"As I said, you two need to rest up some more. Can't let pupils of mine be in less than perfect condition," Byakko finished, slipping into the shadows to a more private quarters in the cave complex he resided in. He gave a heavy sigh, feeling uneasy.

"...I can't tell them the truth of who I am, can I?" Byakko questioned himself, looking at a small reflection of himself in the water. The two had some of his facial markings and feline features from eyes, to twitchy ears, to claws, he could see his mark in them both. He swiftly splashed his tail into the puddle, distorting his image with the splash.

"I can't, I really can't," Byakko shook his head in doubt. "They won't see me the same, especially with how I've been gone most of their lives…"

But those thoughts couldn't linger forever, he needed to rest himself so he and the two can train. Hopefully the truth will be buried like the rocks underneath the thick blankets of snow on the mountainside…

"...Byakko?" The soft, gentle voice of Mao asked the tiger yokai, waving his hand in front of his face. "Are you okay? We're here now."

"Hmm...oh, what?! Already?" Byakko snapped back into reality.

"Yeah you were kinda dissacotating there," Kokoro remarked, having already gotten off the back of Seiryuu and was standing alongside Kaira, who looked fairly miffed at the tiger's lack of focus.

"Dunno why a powerful yokai from long ago would be sealed at a theme park, but the more you learn I suppose," Kaira commented, the surroundings becoming quite clear.

It was one of the top amusement parks in all of Japan, Myoko Ansleyland Ocean. A park that celebrated all the seven seas and their cultures and styles in a lovely park that was a must go tourist destination for domestic and foreign travelers.

"Myoko, wasn't that where Mai used to be from 'till she moved to Sakura New Town?" Kokoro pondered aloud, before shaking her head. She saw something in the horizons that was quite suspicious looking.

Floating above the large, ocean like lagoon the seven elaborate park sections surrounded was a floating island with a small abode and several large glaciers surrounding it.

"I don't believe that's normal…" Seiryuu commented at the sight. "Though, this is a spectacle marvel to behold, so maybe it is?"

"I doubt it, lizard brain," Byakko butted in. "There's a clear scent that's pretty powerful and I know quite well."

"Keep calling me names and I'll leave you down here as we investigate," Seiryuu glared back.

"A-Anyways I think I see something going up there…" Mao remarked, squinting his eyes to get a closer look at a strange shadow approaching the floating structure. "So I think it's best we hurry and not get…"

Too little, too late, Kokoro, Kaira, and Byakko were already looking at several stands of cute and collectible merchandise. The blacked haired child looked at the less than amused dragon.

"You may not be contracted to me but I'll take your word," Seiryuu concluded, having Mao get on as the large dragon managed to grab each of the distracted party, Kokoro and Kaira being put on his back alongside Mao and Byakko being coiled in his tail.

"Wh-" Kaira stammered in shock.

"What-Ack!" Kokoro added in.

"How dare you!" Byakko yelped, struggling in the tail grip of Seiryuu.

"S-Sorry…" Mao apologized, already feeling quite embarrassed.

"Ah geez don't worry dude, I'm really drawn to cute stuff so any mention of danger ended up getting forgotten," Kokoro reassured the other with a smile. "But now I'm focused and we're gonna do the thing!"

Without any further comment the two arrived onto the glacier covered island, the air going from slightly chilly to absolutely freezing.

"Tsk...I wish I had brought a jacket…" Kaira muttered, keeping his hands in his sleeves as he shivered a bit.

"There's only one building to investigate here, so let's go there yeah?" Mao pointed in the direction of the small abode, starting to walk into that direction. Kokoro and Kaira soon followed suit, starting the investigation.

To their shock, the door was flung right open, seeming to have been forcibly opened by a deadly and powerful force. There was no use in sitting around, so the three teens all charged right inside.

The interior was...shockingly homey for something that contained an ancient evil. There was a very nice living and kitchen area, neatly kept in place and was absolutely high end to the brim. But most importantly, there was a bedroom who's door had been forcibly opened as well…

"Oh no…" Kokoro realized, running to the bedroom door, the other two following her shock.

"Now...to finally break the final seal…" A familiar, sinister voice spoke to herself, an evil grin on her fox like face. What was supposedly sealed looked like a black haired yokai child with lilac skin and golden highlights.

"We've finally found you!" Kaira shouted, drawing his sword.

"Now you better stop before we beat you senseless, Tamamo no Mae!" Kokoro added into the shouting fest with one of her hands tightly gripping onto the azure emblem.

"Oh you foolish children, seems half of you have found me," Tamamo no Mae remarked, folding her arms. "Why must you always ruin my completely reasonable plans?"

"Reasonable!? You're trying to destroy everyone and everything!" Mao attempted to reason, though he wasn't very good at having an aggressive tone like the others.

"You're really dense and annoying, don't you know that?" Tamamo no Mae sneered, snapping her fingers as she transformed into a large peafowl.

"Begone you brats!" Tamamo no Mae screeched, flapping her large wings to send the three flying out of the room and slamming the door. Remaining in the peafowl form, Tamamo no Mae continued with her seal breaking.

"Oh one who brings molten lava to negative freezing, the one who fully embodies the ideals of Yin, rise forth! Your time has finally come, Soruka!" Tamamo no Mae called forth, a magical barrier being broken around the bed as she recited the words.

With the words concluded, Soruka slowly began to wake up, rubbing his eyes and stretching as he looked at the dark bird before him. "Mmmm...mother?"

Tamamo no Mae gave a sinister grin on the inside as she nodded. "Yes, that's who I am, I've changed quite a bit over the past millennia. Though I have a simple request for you..."

Soruka looked happy for a brief moment, his ears twitching a little bit curiously, could it really be? But, he had to stay on track. "W-What is it you want?"

"Why, there are horrible intruders in your domain, dear," Tamamo no Mae informed, Soruka looking fairly miffed in response.

"Must I really? I really don't like fighting…" Soruka commented, the dark peafowl looking at the negative twin dead in the eye.

"Listen...if you don't provoke violence to these fools, you will die. They will kill you if you sit and do nothing…" Tamamo no Mae explained, Soruka shaking a bit.

"I-I will die if I don't fight them?!" Soruka gasped in fear. Tamamo no Mae nodded.

"Yes, you must revel in despair and suffering in order to win, and then you may…" Tamamo no Mae began, helping the cold yokai up. "Be considered less of a pushover, less of a coward…"

"A-are you sure?" Soruka questioned, a bit unsure and worried. Tamamo no Mae's eyes began to shine a bright, uneasy hot pink, briefly blinding Soruka. The strange light, it caused something to snap in Soruka's heart...something uneasy to flow through.

The black haired yokai summoned his war fan forth and began to float outside. "If you insist, I will exterminate as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile outside, the three teens were trying to get back inside. The front door didn't seem to be locked, but there was a strong magical barrier they were all attempting to break. It wasn't going too well until it suddenly disappeared.

"It's gone?" Mao questioned at the strange disappearance of the barrier.

"Guess all of our fighting worked…" Kaira commented, putting his sword to the side.

"Either way, let's get back in and stop-" Kokoro tried to say, only for a powerful gust of cold wind to throw the three back once more as she attempted to open the door.

"...I will not rest until you are all eliminated…" Soruka said coldly, almost robotically as he stood in front of the knocked down trio.

"Well if you want to fight…We're going to give you one!" Kokoro said, holding out her emblem and nudging Mao to get out his. "Get yours out too, we're gonna fight!"

"R-Right!" Mao added in, though something just wasn't feeling right. Something was a bit off about this situation, but he couldn't let it bother him too much…

"The mind of the deep and near infinite ocean, let the eastern waves strike! If you would please come forth, the Azure Guardian...Seiryuu!" Kokoro began her transformation call, shining an azure

"Cloaked in snow, striking from the west when least expecting it! If you would please come forth…the White Guardian...Byakko!" Mao added into the transformation calling.

"Take this!" Kokoro yelled as she slammed her nine section whip to Soruka. However, he was able to avoid such a strike by simply stepping out of the way.

Soruka didn't have much to say, he quickly casted a small blast of ice to try and knock Kokoro down, but perhaps due to her inner burning soul she wasn't able to go down so easily, breaking through the ice with the nine section whip.

"C'mon! Just! Give! Up!" Kokoro yelled, trying to strike down the black haired yokai, who simply kept floating out of the way of her strikes.

"Not until you are eliminated," Soruka commented back, trying to strike the aggressive teen down with his clawed hand.

"Well I'm not gonna make your job any easier!" Kokoro shouted, finally getting a strike onto Soruka after whipping around plenty of times. It managed to fling Soruka back a bit, onto his back. Kokoro gave a smile.

"See? Not all too bad, nothin' a little straightforward think-" Kokoro tried to say, only for a strong aura to surround Soruka as he raised up his hand holding his wing-like war fan.

"...Soruka Beam!" Soruka shouted, blasting Kokoro with a controlled beam of chilling energy, freezing her in place! At least from the chest downwards, allowing her to somewhat move her arms and speak.

"Hey now!" Kokoro yelled, trying to break free from the ice, but she could barely move with her impulsive actions, and the strike of the beam made her drop her whip just out of reach. "That's kinda rude ain't it?!"

"I have no time to think about the rules of war when I'm attempting to finish things as quickly as possible…" Soruka remarked coldly, giving a slight sinister grin behind his fan.

"Fear not, please allow me to assist you in getting you out of this...cold mess…" Seiryuu reassured, floating over the icy prison Kokoro was trapped in and investigating on how he could try and break her out.

"Thanks dude," Kokoro thanked, Seiryuu clawing at the ice slowly but surely. "The sooner I'm out the sooner we can show Soruka who's boss!"

Soruka soon focused his extermination to that of Mao, the latter starting to feel a bit uneasy. How was he going to defend himself against something bent on fighting quickly and efficiently as possible?

But Mao had no time to ponder about it, right now he had to fend for himself!

"Ack!" Mao yelped, holding up the wind and fire wheeled as Soruka tried to slice Mao into ribbons with his claws.

"Please...stop trying to fight...it'll make my job easier…" Soruka tried to reason with the other, Mao keeping his stance up in trying to defend each and every sharpened strike.

"I know you don't want to fight, I can hear it in your voice, Soruka!" Mao responded back, Soruka looking shocked for a brief second before going back to his usual saddened but determined look.

"As much as I don't like fighting, I must do so…" Soruka explained to the other, unaware of a certain tiger creeping within the shadows of their confrontation.

"Why not? If none of us want to fight, would it be easier to just call it quits?" Mao asked a bit confused.

"Because if I don't eliminate all of you here...you will kill me no matter what!" Soruka explained, practically choking back. "That's what mother told me!"

Without another moment of hesitation, now was the moment for Byakko to finally strike, emerging from the shadows and pinning Soruka down from behind.

"Mao, now is your chance!" Byakko yelled, trying to keep the squirming and struggling yokai under control.

Upon given the command, Mao was a little bit shaken from the instructions. He could clearly and visibly see Soruka struggling, gasping for air as he wailed under the paws and claws of the great white tiger.

With hesitation, Mao very nervously lowered his wind and fire wheels to strike, only for Soruka to get a slight evil look in his eye as he managed to free his clawed hand. It glimmered with a cyan energy.

"Now! Cyan Claw!" Soruka yelled, knocking Mao back with a powerful clawed strike.

"Aaaaagh!" Mao yelped, hitting onto a large rock.

"Mao!" Kokoro yelled, finally getting free from the ice with the help from Seiryuu. She jumped onto the dragon's back to ride in to quickly save Mao and charge in after the cruel yokai.

"T-Thank you," Mao thanked, being picked up by Seiryuu and Kokoro. The latter gave a hearty smile.

"Don't mention it, now let's finish this!" Kokoro yelled, readying her whip as she jumped off Seiryuu's back to do a high dive attack. Mao stayed on Seiryuu, hopefully to pick up Byakko for a strong attack.

Being pinned by one holy beast, being pursued by two, and another dive bombing after you, Soruka felt quite pressued, until he finally snapped and…

"Below Freezing Wave…!" Soruka cried out with all his heart, his eyes going fully ice blue as he unleashed a powerful blizzard of ice across the area. It was not enough to get Byakko off of him, but to freeze him solid. Same for Kokoro, Seiryuu, and Mao, all frozen within a frosted prison.

"...They're all gone now, aren't they?" Soruka said with a sense of relief, looking at all the souls he had managed to freeze into place. They didn't move, snark, or say anything back to him.

Was he finally out of the clear? Could he stop fighting? It was odd, he felt another presence but it could have just been all the people down below, right?

Back in the abode that Soruka was sealed within, Kaira was looking around. Tamamo no Mae had flown out a while ago upon Soruka starting his fight with the others. He was on an important mission, though…

"C'mon there has to be a jacket somewhere…" Kaira questions aloud, looking through a closet within the previously sealed bedroom. "You can't possibly hope to survive the cold wearing a bolero without an undershirt!"

It took a bit of digging, but Kaira finally found a comfortable jacket with long, warm sleeves and covered himself nicely. He should have really asked Mao to bring that one jacket from the time they properly met…

Either way he was properly equipped for combat, holding out his sword as he stepped outside. He could hear that something went awry during the fight, the sound of several things freezing at once.

And he was correct, everyone who was trying to fight Soruka had been frozen completely solid! The snake king was stunned, feeling a strange feeling of...horror? His cold blood boiling? What was this?

"You…" Kaira began, gripping onto his sword. Soruka gave a rather dulled look at Kaira, holding his fan.

"What is it? Another one I have to freeze solid? Can't you guys just...stop?" Soruka questioned, Kaira practically boiling.

"You harmed my...my…" Kaira tried to say, Soruka looking less and less impressed.

"What were they to you? Comrades? Allies?" Soruka asked the snake.

"They were my f-f-friends you idiot!" Kaira finally yelled loudly. It wasn't enough to break or melt the ice, but it was clear he was absolutely boiling with anger.

In such a spit of pure rage, Kaira took out his sword, slamming is into the ground as hard as he possibly could. Several cracks appeared into the icy ground and out came a large serpent made of colorful energy.

Then came another.

And another.

And more and more until around fourteen of them were unleashed, all powerfully shattering the crystalized ice, freeing the others with enough energy to spare to focus themselves on another target.

"W-we're free?" Mao questioned, looking around.

"But how?" Kokoro asked as well, still just as puzzled as he was at how on earth they could have been freed.

The powerful energy snakes then focused themselves to Soruka, coiling and biting at him to make him give up.

"Aaargh!" Soruka yelled upon being attacked and coiled by the powerful energy snakes.

However, such a powerful move, and more powerful than it usually is, caused Kaira to collapse, an audible thud being heard.

"Kaira!" Mao yelled, rushing over to Kaira's side. "Are you okay?"

Kaira looked back at Mao with eyes just barely managing to stay open. "Please...don't worry about me...I've done what I could right now…"

The blue haired half yokai gave a small gentle smile, seeming to find some kind of legit happiness for once. "Besides...you saved me once...I needed to return a favor…"

With that, Kaira ended up being knocked out cold. Mao could sense that he was still alive, just unconscious thankfully.

Kokoro caught wind of what was going on and looked at Seiryuu.

"Seiryuu, please take Kaira back inside and heal him if you can," Kokoro requested with a determined look in her eye as she held her nine section whip. "Surely you have some healing magic, right?"

"A little bit, but only really for emergencies," Seiryuu informed the rough teen.

"Well this is an emergency, then!" Kokoro responded, going in back after Soruka. "Now I got a score to settle!"

Seiryuu took the request of Kokoro seriously, quickly snatching up Kaira and headed for the small abode, transforming into his less bestial form to get in much easier.

Being much more of the impulsive type, Kokoro went back to fighting Soruka, attempting to use her nine section whip to make him drop his fan.

"You're still here to fight despite the fall of one of your comrades?" Soruka asked the aggressive teen, countering each of her aggressive shots with ease. "If one of your fellows fell, should you give up already?"

"Yes you idiot! He saved me, Seiryuu, Byakko, and Mao's life so there's no way I'm going to let you get away like a sitting duck!" Kokoro yelled, managing to finally hit Soruka out of a fit of rage. The ice based twin ended up being knocked down once again from the strike, but soon got back up.

At the very moment Kokoro thought it was safe to let her guard down, Soruka struck back with a powerful blast of icy wind, fingling the teen backwards. Who knew such a depressed looking soul could have such sheer force?

"I'm not gonna freeze up t-to you again!" Kokoro tried to yell, but it was clear she was losing balance and fell over from still being quite chilly. She needed to recover, as much as she denied it at first.

The only remaining member was Mao and Byakko, both taking up their stances.

"So all that's left is you two, it seems," Soruka remarked at the sight with a bored tone. "How I'm pleased to finally be nearly done with this fight…"

The cold yokai held out his fan to his face once more, starting to charge with a much powerful aura than before. "Shame you wouldn't end this faster..."

Mao was completely frozen in place, shaking not only from the cold outside but fear as well. So many of his friends were getting hurt in this confrontation...would Mai and the others be holding up well with Noruka? Are they okay? Is anybody okay?

Plenty of raw anxiety was flowing through the poor boy's heart overthinking all of this at once, not noticing that his worrying and worrying only made Soruka's power charge faster and stronger until it finally finished charging…

"Icicle Rain…!" Soruka finally let out, eyes glowing an eerie, cold cyan as he unleashed a powerful, pelting storm of icicles onto the field, hoping to pierce Mao and Byakko into mere popsicles.

"Stop standing around!" Byakko yelped, leaping up as high as he could to destroy the icicles. "You're gonna get pelted, Mao!"

While Byakko managed to get Mao to safety, Soruka managed to look dead into the tiger's eyes...Seeming to remember something...

Something that made the usually calm and quiet yokai burst with an unholy amount of anger.

"You…!" Soruka hissed under his breath, seeping with absolute anger at the feline. He wasn't sure what this hazy memory was with those tiger eyes, but it made himself very uneasy. It was enough to start directing plenty more of those icicles to Byakko's general direction.

Being a master of stealth, Byakko did his usual maneuvers to try and escape, but the icy twin yokai seemed to have some of his speed, managing to grab the white tiger by his tail. With a truly frightening amount of strength, Soruka threw Byakko into the rain of ice, pinning the tiger down.

For the usually snarky tiger, Byakko didn't have anything to say. He was just stuck, unable to move. Though, somehow, deep down in his soul, he knew Soruka probably remembered what he did...and he wasn't going to let him forget.

Everything from the rain of icicles being unleashed, to being trapped into ice, to his friends being hurt...It was all too much for Mao. He couldn't help but fall down and starting crying...many emotions flowed through him…

Fear...overloading...anger...it all boiled within his heart...Something finally snapped in him as his visible eye began to shine a searing silver…

"...Mao!?" Kokoro observed from afar despite the rain of icicles falling down. It was clear a radiant, silvery aura was starting to surround the boy…

"Mao you can't...oh no...oh nooo…" Byakko realized, looking absolutely stricken with worried. The rain of ice had finally stopped, but Byakko's fear and tension only grew and grew, still being stuck in ice.

"Do you remember what I told you about awakening!?" Byakko pleaded with the boy, looking concerned.

"I can't hold back! Even if this is my last moment, I'll have at the very least protected everyone!" Mao responded with, understanding very well what was at stake it felt like.

After a final yell, a powerful burst of energy blasted through Mao, enough to make Soruka stand back a little from the sheer force and power.

Once the light died down, Mao was still standing alive and well despite Byakko's words. The black haired boy looked a whole lot different now, yet still the same. His black hair was now tipped with white and gained some of Byakko's more tiger-ish features, such as clawed paw hands and some stripes, but silver and a dark grey as opposed to black and white. A bright yellow accented several of his new features, including a large fluffy tail, a single crescent shaped horn on his head and silvery hooves.

"My wild instincts have awakened, I am now the silver beast prince of the gentle winds and glistening metals, I am known as Yeomao!" The newly revealed Yeomao stated as boldly as he could, even doing a bit of a pose.

Soruka looked a bit at the strange new beast. "Another holy beast? Your aura is much weaker than that of Byakko or Seiryuu, so I'll make sure you are swiftly terminated..."

"Take this! And this!" Soruka yelled, firing two blasts of ice at Yeomao.

"Y-you take it back now!" Yeomao responded with, firing a blast of silvery wind back at the blasts of ice, scattering it to the point of no longer doing any harm. Soruka was a bit displeased at the glistening beast's countering measures, charging at him with his claws ready.

Yeomao was having none of that this time, responding with a quick, powerful slash then followed up with a bucking kick in Soruka's jaw. Despite his blood being boiled beyond belief, he did feel quite a bit of guilt for being so rough. The icy yokai was knocked down briefly, so hopefully this should give Yeomao a good window of time to check on something...

"Kokoro! Are you okay?" Yeomao asked Kokoro, trying to help her up. She simply brushed off her sleeves and crossed her arms.

"Yeah I'm fine, beasty kiddo so no worries," Kokoro responded with a smug grin. "Now stand back, if you're gonna go all full yokai, so can I, buddy!"

Yeomao took a step back as Kokoro became enveloped in a strong stormy aura, revealing herself as her true form as the yokai princess of the pretty tribe, Suseri. Now fully charged and ready, Suseri began darting over to the abode.

"Yo! Seiryuu! Can you come out for a bit!" Suseri called out, the dragon humanoid stepping out briefly.

"Yes?" Seiryuu asked, Suseri quickly diverting her attention to quickly zap Soruka down with a bolt of lightning.

"We got a fight to finish here, if Kaira needs to rest, let him keep resting!" Suseri instructed, pretty much bursting with energy. "And I think it might be best if you were a bit, you know, bigger and scalier."

"I suppose, if the action calls for it," Seiryuu commented back, quickly heading out and transforming into his more dragon-like appearance. "I just appreciate having opposable thumbs sometimes."

Suseri jumped onto the dragon's back, starting to channel a much more powerful energy than before, hopefully her most powerful attack she could conjure alongside Seiryuu.

"Byakko! They're going to need our help too!" Yeomao called out to the white tiger, quickly running over to him to free him from his icy chains prison.

Byakko didn't have anything to say in response, which was unusual since he was usually the one with something to say. Perhaps he was focused on not only channeling his energy, but also efficiently climbing up the glacier mountains to reach a high enough point to catch up with the true blue duo.

"Please…" Soruka remarked to himself, starting to stand back up from the shock. "Please...all of you...just...perish already…"

Something sensed Soruka about to charge and snipe the awakened yokai out of sight, charging in quickly from an unexpected place.

"Not on my watch you won't!" Kaira yelled, emerging from the abode and hitting Soruka from behind and causing him to fall over.

"K-Kaira!" Yeomao observed with a fearful tone. "You haven't finished recovering, y-you're going to hurt yourself even more!"

"And I'm not gonna let Soruka take you down!" Kaira responded with, jumping on Soruka to pin him down more physically. He tapped his sword into the ground to summon at least two of the energy snakes to hopefully assist in the pinning down of Soruka, even at the cost of Kaira being knocked off the black haired yokai with minimal effort afterwards.

"Now! It's now or never!" Kaira yelled, going back right where he was on hanging on with a loose thread of his life.

Suseri and Seiryuu positioned themselves to the east, starting to cast up lightning and water respectively. Byakko and Yeomao took to the rest, conjuring up ice and wind. The two sides faced each other, and started running to one another.

"Dragon that faces the azure east!" Suseri and Seiryuu yelled together, their powers starting to amplify.

"Tiger that faces the white west!" Yeomao and Byakko shouted in unison, emitting a powerful blanket of snow and wind.

Both sides came to the center with Soruka, looking about ready to slam into each other. Suseri and Yeomao reached out to each other's hands, gripping firmly.

"Eternally Harmonious Rivalry Hurricane!" The quartet shouted, a powerful storm of water, lightning, ice, and wind enveloping up Soruka with great, sheer force of what seemed like nature itself being truly angered.

Once the storm calmed down, Soruka laid down face first in defeat. "So...I'm defeated again...I should expect nothing different…"

Kokoro, having gone back to normal in her civilian clothes and everything, ran over to Soruka, trying to aid him.

"You shouldn't have tried to kill us to be honest…" Kokoro reasoned, shaking her head at realizing her harshness. "But, you're okay now, right? We aren't here to fight anymore."

"I suppose...from that attack you preformed I had realized something…" Soruka added in, seeming much more mellowed out now. "That shadowy bird was not mother...Not at all…"

"Indeed she wasn't," Seiryuu added in, aiding both Soruka and a very exhausted Kaira. "That was none other than Tamamo no Mae, a master of disguise and lover of absolute suffering of others."

"Suppose my demeanor made it easy for her to manipulate me…" Soruka realized, being a bit of a crisis of oneself with a shake of his head. He gave a hefty sigh and tried to calm down. "But I suppose since I lost I'm taken as prisoner now, correct?"

"Don't...think of it like that," Kokoro reassured, rubbing the back of her head. "It's friendship since you're gonna be our friend now, right?"

"Friend…" Soruka began, his eyes lightening up a little bit. "I like the sound of that…"

As Kokoro quickly got work on informing the others about the situation, at least after checking a few things on her phone, Mao looked over to Byakko, having turned back to normal. Byakko, for a change of pace, changed into his more humanoid form.

"Byakko...I have a lot of questions to ask if that's okay," Mao asked, the white tiger being silent as he had his arms folded. Though, it seemed he was listening so Mao took a deep breath and got his thoughts together.

"You said if I were to awaken to my yokai powers, I would combust into flames and be no more...yet that didn't happen," Mao let out, not sounding angry but rather worried and confused. "And yet, despite you saying I was related to Great King Enma, my aura was nothing like his...at least the current one that is. What's going on?"

Byakko pinched his brow, feeling like a lot of guilt and unease was on his shoulders. "Mao...There's a lot I didn't explain or merely twisted for the sake of your own safekeeping."

Before Mao could call Byakko out for not being clear and straight up lying, the tiger made a motion for the boy to be quiet.

"You are not the previous Great King Enma's son...but rather my own," Byakko revealed, Mao being at an absolute loss for words. "Please, allow me to explain in further detail, one that is the absolute truth."

It was not all that long ago compared to other recollections of the past, only about two decades ago. It was on a familiar, snowy mountain range, Byakko on the prowl after sensing something once again like all those years ago.

Though instead of two yokai that seemed to share his aura, it was a single yokai completely beyond any yoki wavelengths of Byakko. Upon inspection, it seemed to be a cross between a dragon and a deer, sporting dark grey scales, light blue whisps for a mane, and a single silvery horn.

Taking in the yokai, Byakko watched over the strange creature until they were conscious once more, revealing golden and cyan eyes.

"...Where am I?" The deer dragon questioned, observing his surroundings. Byakko approached the other, gazing at him.

"You are in my domain now, name's Byakko," Byakko introduced himself, the other yokai looking surprised.

"Byakko, you mean the legendary tiger said to appear before great kings?" The other yokai asked, before nodding. "I'm Ikkaku of the Pokapoka tribe, I too bless great kings as well."

"Seems like we could get a mutual relationship going then," Byakko responded with. "Run around giving only the most worthy of kings our blessings…"

Ikkaku looked pretty happy at that idea. "I enjoy that, plus it would be good to stay hidden for a while given all the wicked types after my horn."

The years between the two went by as their bond became more and more strong. It had been just a bit over five years of their bonding, going from acquaintances to a deep romance until one important day...

"Ikkaku!" Byakko yelled, searching through the caverns until he found his beloved mate, though a lot weaker and unable to move very much.

"Ikkaku! Are you alright?" Byakko asked, laying next to the dragon deer. Something was moving under the front legs of Ikkaku, catching Byakko's attention.

"Byakko...I don't have much time left in this world…" Ikkaku weakly said, seeming to have his power fade by the minute. "Though with most of my energy, I was able to secure that our successor is safe…"

"Our...what now?" Byakko questioned, looking closer at the...thing moving by Ikkaku's front legs. They looked humanoid, no scales in sight and only a bit of black and white fur on their head. How strange...regardless Byakko got low enough to try and pick up the child.

"He's ours...Byakko...so please...take care of him…" Ikkaku pleaded, mere seconds away from being nothing. "And if you can't….find someone worthy...who can…please..."

With those final words, Ikkaku was gone, leaving Byakko with nothing more than the mostly furless cub before him.

Byakko gave a heavy sigh, knowing a good friend was gone now and he was back to being all alone.

Though, this was a hard choice to think about. He could try to raise his new child on his own, he was quite cute but….He already failed not once but twice? What was to stop him from becoming a failure a third time? Sure third time's the charm and all, but what if luck truly wasn't on his side.

And if raised under his supervision, what if this poor child would end up like him, but far worse? Someone that would try to slay him, or even worse, cause a massive destructive wake just like those two...

Byakko looked down, quickly gathering a few blankets to wrap the child up in safely and gently. He knew what was probably the best choice. It wasn't an easy one, but it was the one that might end best.

"From what I heard from the winds...The Great King Enma has been unable to produce a male heir…" Byakko commented to himself, starting to embark with his new child in mouth. He could travel pretty swiftly and quietly, making sure nobody could see him as he followed the west wind. "So hopefully...I can give such a wonderful ruler something worthy of his noble rule..."

When coming back to reality, Byakko looked off a bit coldly. "I'm sorry I couldn't have told you this sooner…please head back inside and warm up, I'm going to need some moments outside…"

"Byakko…" Mao responded with, Byakko's look getting all the more heavy.

"I said go! Go right now1" Byakko yelled back, everyone else headed inside to warm up and relax. Everyone looked a bit worried at each other.

"What was his deal all about?" Kaira asked, wrapped tightly with blankets and some warm soup.

"I don't know…" Soruka responded, looking a bit uneasy. "I've only ever known Byakko for a few brief moments across all the time we've encountered one another and he...he seems more familiar than just being another holy beast yokai…"

The room was quiet for a bit, before Seiryuu, back in his humanoid form stood up and went to the door. "Give me a moment, I'll go speak with him and see what I can do…"

Byakko was busy sulking outside, not seeming to be bothered by the cold but much more his own feelings. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but jumping off this floating island, and somehow making sure he didn't land on his feet sounded swell. Maybe drown into the depths of the freezing cold ocean...

"My apologies, Byakko, I don't think you want to see me right now," Seiryuu greeted, Byakko looking up a little.

"Frankly I usually loathe your presence, but I've actually been needing to ask you something…" Byakko asked, Seiryuu looking a bit surprised.

"Go on," Seiryuu answered with, Byakko taking a deep breath.

"How is it you're a good parent?" Byakko began, seeming rather bothered by something. "Otohime seems to respect you a great amount, and even your brother Nanda-Ryuuoh does so as well…Especially since you're always such a stick in the mud all the time..."

Seiryuu looked absolutely stunned by what Byakko had asked of him, causing the blue dragon to go into deep thought. "To be frank, raising children can be a very difficult thing to do and there isn't a solid answer on it…"

Byakko looked off to the side, a bit displeased. "Figures…"

"But...even I messed up when raising Otohime and Nanda-Ryuuoh, nobody's perfect, not even myself," Seiryuu admitted full well with a sense of sincerity. "I'm pretty sure asking for forgiveness wouldn't hurt, would it?"

The white tiger assassin shook his head. "No no, you don't get it, do you? There's a difference between maybe being too busy some days and being completely absent...And I've done that not once but three times in my life, four if you count my relationship Suzaku…"

"It's true Suzaku may be one who's still merciless, speaking with her always feels like walking on eggshells…" Seiryuu began to conclude, looking off. "Noruka, Soruka, and Mao are different...maybe they'll take your word…"

The white tiger humanoid about was ready to deliver a slap right across Seiryuu's face. "You still don't understand anything now do you? You claim to be a wise old dragon, but you aren't! Do you realize I nearly murdered one of my children because I thought following up on an old plan would be wise? You saw how angry Soruka was!"

Seiryuu got a bit silent, taking a deep breath as he gently tried to hold the angry tiger back. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, but not everybody is going to be like Suzaku. It's a risk sometimes worth taking."

Byakko was only silent, not even speaking a word. Seiryuu didn't have any other words to offer himself, just silence.

The azure dragon was going to have to bring somebody, two somebody's, who would be able to speak some words on this situation himself.

"Lord Byakko?" Soruka asked, catching the attention of the humanoid tiger yokai. How did he get here….Did Seiryuu quietly ask him to come here?

"Byakko? What is it you need?" Mao asked as well, getting the attention of the aforementioned yokai further.

"I see you two have arrived…" Byakko opened with, giving a hefty sigh. "It comes with my deepest and most honest apologies that I've been nothing more than a massive failure as the father to both of you…"

Mao and Soruka were silenced at the sight, a bit taken back by what Byakko said. He stood up, holding out his arms. "So please, if you must, end me here, do what you feel is necessary…"

Instead of trying to slay the beast, Mao and Soruka instead ended up hugging Byakko, much to the latter's shock.

"Please, don't worry Byakko, I understand now what you did and why…" Mao responded with, accepting the tiger's plea of forgiveness.

"For eons I wondered why I never had a father or felt I really fit in…" Soruka began, still hugging tightly as he could. "But now I feel happy I finally have someone who can possibly understand things better than my mother…"

"You two…" Byakko smiled, just about crying as he hugged the two. "I'm proud of you to have you as my sons…"

The two hugged for a little bit longer, feeling a bit better to finally have a lot of weight lifted from their shoulders.

"We should probably be getting back in now, I think we're all tired and we need to rest up before meeting with Noruka and the others…" Mao suggested, Byakko and Soruka nodding.

"Sounds like a good idea," Soruka remarked, seeming to be legit happy for once. "As much as I like the cold, being warm and taking a nap sounds nice right now…"

The three headed back inside, to warm up and get some much needed rest. Things were starting to draw to a close, the only thing left to do was finally confront Tamamo no Mae to hopefully end her reign of terror once and for all...


	9. Tale 9: The Queen of Despair

**Tale 9: The Queen of Despair, Fright to the Finish!**

A long much needed rest had been granted to both groups after a long, tedious fight against Noruka in the west and Soruka in the east. But now, with the twins calmed down, there was one last goal to accomplish.

Back at the central mansion, the groups finally met up each other after a much deserved and long rest, having a brief celebration before having to confront the great evil before them. Nothing like a small bit of cheer to celebrate greatly halting the plans of Tamamo no Mae and guaranteeing a victory to lighten the mood.

And almost instantly, a sparking reunion occured between two souls who haven't seen each other in ages.

"Noruka?" Soruka asked quietly, while subtle he was surprised to see his brother.

"Soruka?!" Noruka yelled, tackling the other as they finally hugged.

"A-Ack! A bit too tight-" Soruka commented by being a bit taken back by the other's much more high amounts of energy.

"I can't help it!" Noruka responded with a cheerfulness in his voice and a bit of a misty eye. "You may be a pain sometimes with not wanting to do much, but you're still my brother!"

"Do you even like me as a brother, though?" Soruka questioned, drifting into his usual bit of negativity. "You did say I was a pain…"

"Of course I like you as a brother you egghead!" Noruka answered, boisterously, to his brother's question. "Not seeing you in so long has made me feel lonely! Even if we don't get along all the time, I love the times we do get along!"

Soruka gave a gentle smile, not helping but to give a hug back to his brother. He was a bit too hyper for Soruka's case a lot of the time, but he was just as happy to see Noruka again, even if he wasn't as loud about it.

However, among the happy reunion, one such soul couldn't help but to leave from such a cheery atmosphere. They started to head out to the back balcony, one such person noticing them leaving among the celebration.

"Kaira?" Great King Enma thought aloud to himself, quietly following the other out to the back balcony. He couldn't be seen, but he had a bit of concern for him. What was on his mind?

The aforementioned half yokai was looking outside to the balcony, a gentle open beach and ocean bellow with a gentle glow from the sunlight. It was a bright sight, even if Kaira's heart was far from as sunny and warm as the outside.

"Kaira?" Great King Enma asked, trying to keep his distance but making sure he could hear his voice as he stood by a nearby bench. "Are you alright?"

Kaira turned his head at the voice, looking displeased. "What do you want?"

"You don't seem to be okay, do you want to talk about it?" Great King Enma asked the other, the blue haired boy's eyes looking more aggressive as he let out a low hiss.

"I don't need your help, it's something you couldn't understand…" Kaira responded aggressively.

"What do you mean? You do realize I'm king of the yokai world so there's a lot I can probably do to help...right?" Great King Enma asked, Kaira looking about ready to explode.

"And you know what you have that I don't?" Kaira hissed back, brimming with anger.

Great King Enma was only silent as Kaira got closer to the other, pushing him into the wall near the bench he was standing by.

"You actually have a family! And not to mention hundreds upon thousands of people who love and support you as king!" Kaira finally yelled out, angry tears falling down his eyes. "You realize how lucky you are!? I have nothing, nobody accepts me and those who do get punished in some way!"

"Kaira…" Great King Enma responded with, a little taken back from the explosion of anger the other was facing with. "There are people who accept you, like our group for starters…"

"Who's to say they won't just disband after all of this is said and done?" Kaira hissed back, a sliver of mercy in his heart trying his best not to strangle the young king. "I'm too human to be considered a yokai but too weird to be considered human! I'm a freak of nature, so much so that fate cut my mother's life and everyone despises my mere existence! I have nothing!"

The great king could tell Kaira was absolutely pouring his heart out over all this. While it was sad, a lot of it was true. But, the blond put his hand on the other's shoulder in hopes to get him to calm down and listen.

"Listen to me, I don't strive for a world where humans and yokai are friends just for publicity's sake," Great King Enma began with, sounding serious and heartfelt. "I do it because I truly believe in it, and hope hanyou like yourself are accepted...Had I not wanted to help you since a young age I don't think I'd have that philosophy."

Kaira got a bit quiet with a deep sigh at what he was told. He couldn't help but be a bit quiet for a moment.

"I know you face a lot of prejudices I can't understand fully myself, but is it so wrong that I want to be your friend?" Great King Enma started to wrap things up with, trying to reach out to Kaira's heart. "You can't give into that hatred filled darkness! I...I fell into it once and I ended up hurting too many people to list, I don't even think a lot of people can forgive me…"

"For someone as perfect as you, I'm not sure if you understand being in such a situation where you'd give into the darkness in your heart after losing everything…" Kaira remarked, not really taking in Enma's story.

"Kaira, please listen to me!" Great King Enma finally lashed out, pretty much tearing up in hopes the other would at the very least listen to him. "It may not seem like it, but there was a point where I truly lost everything! It was a point where my heart became filled with so much darkness I went against my own philosophy…"

"So it was you who was behind the yoma incident those months ago?" Kaira asked the other, Great King Enma biting his lip and nodding.

"...Yes...That was me at my lowest point…" Great King Enma confessed with a heavy tone in his voice. "But even if I needed help, I got out of that point...So I'm sure I can try to help you now, right?"

Kaira gave a brief smile and a nod. "So, I suppose that makes us even, huh? I see what you mean now..."

The great king grabbed the hands of the other. "Yeah, so you wanna walk together now, as friends?"

"Sure," Kaira responded with, having true joy deep within his heart for once. He felt so happy, he couldn't even notice the dark looming clouds in the horizon.

There was a moment of true peace between the two, before a gentle voice came from the door.

"Are you two doing okay? I noticed Kaira was gone and Great King Enma left to this room," Mai asked, shyly in the doorway and trying not to interrupt the two regal figures.

"Yeah, everything's going alright," Great King Enma casually responded with a big grin on his face. Mai gave a relieved smile, happy there wasn't any ill will between the two.

The happy moment was soon interrupted with a loud crash of lightning striking near the three on the balcony.

"Well well, I'm disappointed in myself that it took this long for me to find you," A voice of a hovering vulture remarked, it's plumage a dark ash grey and looking down with hot pink eyes.

"Stop trying to hide yourself!" Mai shouted, not realizing the sound of the lightning must have gotten the attention of everyone else in the residence.

With a puff of smoke the vulture revealed themselves to be none other than Tamamo no Mae, seeming to radiate with a much more powerful dark energy than before.

"Seems everyone is here now, how utterly smashing of a sight to say the least," Tamamo no Mae quipped, folding her arms. "But that doesn't matter, for what I've done under every single one of your noses,"

"What do you mean, fox face!?" Kokoro demanded to know, Tamamo no Mae narrowing her eyes.

"Oh nothing much, just harvesting the despair yoki from all the suffering caused by the battle of both Noruka and Soruka," Tamamo no Mae answered. "From yourselves and the people startled down bellow in fear."

"What do you plan on doing now?" Shinju questioned, a lot less aggressively.

"Just a minor operation to start spreading the word of despair across humans and yokai alike," Tamamo no Mae responded with a smug attitude. "And what better place to start than the most joyous place in the whole human world?"

The malicious yokai gave a grin, before shrugging her arms. "But, I think I've said a lot, haven't I? I'd like to see you try, but you're going to end up choking on despair just like everyone else…"

With a quick puff of smoke, Tamamo no Mae was gone, leaving everyone else to discuss what had happened.

"So is Tamamo no Mae really going to aim her efforts on a freakin' theme park?" Noruka questioned the fox's motives.

"I'm not sure," Soruka input his thoughts on the situation

"I mean, a lot of people visit there and have a wonderful time, so for disaster to strike, it would be devastating…" Mao began, looking a bit worried.

"Good point, but where did they go?" Suzaku questioned, unfurling her wings a bit as she folded her arms. "I feel something in the southern wind, like beautiful dreams might be crushed…"

Mai's eyes widened in shocking realization, something clicking in her mind. "I think I know where Tamamo no Mae might've gone at the resort…"

The Dream Kingdom park was a, if not the pinnacle, of dreams being made a reality. It was a beautiful park, having a magical air about it that seemed to transport those to a beautiful, enchanted world. One where the dreams and love of both young and old could prosper, and the troubles of the outside world were cleansed away…

The icon of the park was a massive, beautiful crystal castle. The structure looked like it was made of solid, sheening silver stardust trimmed with gold, the roofs of the castle being like large, sparkling colorful jewels. In front of it, was a large stage where many people have gathered around.

Usually character shows took place, but this time there was a special speaker.

Waiting in a special dressing room behind the castle's stage was Karou Hayashi himself, creator of Nyanpan Rider 018, whose characters seemed to be joining hand in hand with the ones within the stunning park. Though, the man seemed to be struggling with his speech.

Luckily, within the shadows, a grey fox with piercing hot pink eyes appeared in front of the man.

"W-Who are you!?" Karou asked the strangely manifesting fox. "H-How did you even get past security?"

"I am Tammy, and consider me a muse, a beacon of inspiration for the struggling artist," Tamamo no Mae introduced herself, attempting to deviate the attention of the manga artist. "As for getting past security, that matters not, I am here to help you."

The man tried to dial for security, but to no avail. All that came out from the man's phone line was static. The fox sat on the desk with several sheets and a briefcase.

"Now, please show me your work," Tammy stated, her eyes seeming to glisten. "I am more than happy to help you find inspiration...Which should help usher a new era…"

"Well…" Karou began, opening the briefcase to show Tammy several pages of Nyanpan Rider 018. "This is a series I've been writing for almost 15 years now, the ongoing tale about a cybernetic feline and the many friends he's made to stop the forces of evil across the world and even other galaxies…"

Tammy made a curious look. "And what is this series exactly about in terms of themes?"

"It's about things like love, friendship, justice…" Karou explained, Tammy making an audible gagging noise. This left Karou a bit shocked, disgusted even.

"Gross, you write about that fluffy garbage?" Tammy scoffed at the man's answer.

"To be fair, my wife really enjoyed those themes, I wanted to make something that would make her and others smile…" Karou tried to defend himself, Tammy giving a cold gaze.

"And where is your supposed beloved wife?" Tammy prompted with a harsh tone.

"She's been gone for almost 15 years, actually...I'm not sure where on earth she went…" Karou replied nervously. "I hope wherever she is, we can meet again one day…"

"Your wife may as well be dead news," Tammy answered, clearly getting a little bit harsher. "As things like love and kindness...those will only get people killed…"

"T-That isn't true!" Karou tried to retort back with, Tammy leaning in a lot closer to look dead in the man's eyes.

"Oh but it is. The truth may be a harsh thing, but things like endless suffering, hopelessness, and mindless bloodshed, those are what make people stronger and more interested," Tammy responded with, her gaze almost getting hypnotic. "Let the bloodshed of innocent fools flow like ink on your page, never stop until nobody remains, let the darkness within everyone's hearts become stronger and stronger!"

A strange aura seemed to engulf that of Karou, his stare becoming a bit more blank and robotic.

"Mr. Hayashi?" A voice asked nervously. "Are you alright? Are you ready for your speech?"

"Yes…" Karous responded with a cold tone, clearly being under the inspiriting influence of his 'muse'. Tammy took the form of a small lizard, gently perched on his shoulder as the man began to make his way out to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls," Karou opened with, seeming to be normal at first. "It is with tremendous honor to be here today! This momentous day, in this kingdom of dreams, marks a new era..."

The audience seemed to be happy, but the shapeshifting fox's influence seemed to have gotten stronger.

"An era where….hopelessness and fear will run rampant, the ones who are kind will be paid only with cruelty and hatred…In fact….Kindness and love will never exist….Since all it does is cycle back into hatred..." Karou began with his speech, his tone getting more and more off.

"W-What's going on?" Several voices in the audience asked, both young and old. There was a clear, tense air beginning to form.

"We will usher a world where you either be violent and merciless, or die at the hands of such a thing. That is the way the world will work, with no love or kindness to be spread or given," Karou continued to give his warped speech. A clear strong aura of despair yoki began to radiate from the masses, seeming to be stronger than usual.

"It's working, in a place like this with plenty of hope and joy being turned into fear...I like this...It's so strong!" Tamamo no Mae thought to herself with an evil grin.

"So now!" Karou began, before soon being taken over by Tamamo no Mae now in usual form floating right behind him, absorbing all the despair yoki from everybody. "Let your fears run wild in this new kingdom!"

Tamamo no mae unleashed a flurry of hot pink fire, ice, and lightning, instilling even more fear into everyone, with even more despair yoki. It went from running like a faucet to a bursted dam, it was so much dark, evil energy.

Karou soon snapped out of his funk, turning around to see the evil fox yokai absolutely radiating with raw, evil power.

"Who are you really!?" Karou asked with as much aggression his meekness could allow. "And why is everybody screaming in fear?! What is going on?!"

Tamamo no Mae grinned. "That shall matter not to a fool like yourself, unless you're wishing to join in an era without any love or kindness..."

"I refuse to join in such an era!" Karou answered back. Tamamo no Mae gave a dead and cold look.

"Then don't speak again!" Tamamo no Mae yelled back, hurling fire at the defenseless man. Though something seemed to swoop in quickly to save the man from the incoming attack.

"Tamamo no Mae!" Mai spoke up, the fox looking at a familiar blonde girl leading her friends as they tried to politely make their way through the crowd.

"Oh delightful, it's you fools…" Tamamo no Mae began unamused, many people still running in fear.

"What do you have planned this time?" Noruka asked, taking his side next to Mai. "Whatever it is, I'll burn it down!"

"Noruka...I don't think it's wise to provoke her…" Soruka muttered to himself.

Plenty of the dark energy had engulfed Tamamo no Mae, the fox giving you an evil laugh. "What do I have in mind!? Well I'll show you!"

The strong amounts of dark energy began to engulf Tamamo no Mae, spiraling to an extreme amount like that of a strong twister. People began to run away in all directions from the sheer terrifying force that seemed to be coming.

Once the dark winds died down, emerging from it was a massive, dark scaled dragon with five heads, all looking with intimidation from it's long necks. One had a long, old looking face, another had features like that of a boar, another looked like one of a crocodile, another of a large snake, and finally the center head had rather fox like features. The large beast's claws were a hot pink, and had large wings that obstructed most of the shining castle.

"I will make sure I will lead a new age, one without love or joy! Nothing will stop me, so cower in your fear and disparity!" The center head of the dragon roared, letting her voice be heard. "Now! Bow before the one and only queen of shadowing despair!"

Tamamo no Mae's large claws started to motion to Karou. "Starting with you!"

The evil dragon's claw motioned to either slice or crush the man, but at the last possible second was stopped, even feeling a harsh slash that pierced through her thick scales.

"What in-" Tamamo no Mae asked, only to see two figures having stopped her attack, and another taking Karou to safety.

"Did you think we were going to stand around like sitting ducks!?" Great King Enma provoked to the transformed fox, Kaira starting to guide Karou back to safety.

"That would be a lot less intrusive, you utterly stupid children!" Tamamo no Mae roared, sounding five times louder and more warped given all the heads she has now. She started to lunge the large snake head to Enma, the young king trying to avoid the venomous fangs.

"Alright! Enough of your nonsense, I'm going to end this quickly!" Great King Enma began to say, forming energy between his hands, focusing on unleashing his soultimate first and foremost.

Taking note of what was happening, Tamamo no Mae quickly retaliated by slamming her large claw down, and then biting Great King Enma hard to inject the snake head's deadly venom into him.

"Great King Enma!" Mai yelped, shocked to see such a thing happen to her friend. She quickly rummaged through her bag, trying to find a Yokai Jewel to use...She had to find someone to call on and fast…

Quickly taking note of both crises at hand, Shinju and Mao quickly took out their emblems and jewels and began running into

"Calm as a plain, the north blossoming with life! If you would please come forth, the Black Guardian...Genbu!"

"Cloaked in snow, striking from the west when least expecting it! If you would please come forth…the White Guardian...Byakko!"

The two familiar voices called out, their holy beast companions being not all that too far behind.

Tamamo no Mae was already starting to make her way to crush the finicky blonde trying to find a jewel with her large claws.

"Mai, look out!" The not often all that loud voice of Mao shouted, diving in quickly to save Mai from getting wrecked by the large dragon.

"Huh? Oh...T-Thank you, Mao!" Mai thanked, not realizing she was seconds saved from a grizzly end by the hands of Tamamo no Mae.

"And don't think you can do anything to Enma!" Shinju shouted, using her staff like a pole vault to jump up to kick the venomous snake head right in one of its eyes, giving out a loud hiss of pain.

"Why...Why you! I could feel that!" Tamamo no Mae yelled at the dark haired girl, trying to fling her off. Moments before it was too late, the large snake head felt an ice cold stab right in a weak point on the neck, starting to slowly begin falling off from the base of the dragon's neck.

"That's not fair! Who did that!?" Tamamo no Mae demanded, watching in horror as one of her heads began to fall off and explode into dust. Appearing in front of the evil drake was none other than a particular white tiger humanoid.

"It's perfectly fair, it's just one thing…" Byakko quipped, swiftly running off before he could get destroyed by the large beast. "You're too slow."

Genbu raised up her shield as the boar dragon head started to charge at her, to protect her and Enma from getting smashed. Her staff was in the other hand, slowly glowing with a healing energy.

Mai decided it was enough standing around, she got out her emblem and jewel to call forth her feathered friend.

"Burn it up in the southern skies above! If you would please come forth the Vermillion Guardian...Suzaku!" Mai yelled with all her heart, doing her special transformation summon with the great vermillion bird being summoned to her aid.

Soon the large dragon was being pelted with flames at one of her many heads, the fierce bird starting to display her large, fiery talons to try and claw through the rough skin. Kokoro took note, balling up her fist and slamming it into her palm.

"So, we got a dragon here, huh?" Kokoro commented, getting out her emblem. "Well let's see how you like the taste of your own medicine!"

"The mind of the deep and near infinite ocean, let the eastern waves strike! If you would please come forth, the Azure Guardian...Seiryuu!" Kokoro shouted, summoning and transforming much like her friends earlier.

In addition to the fire, Tamamo no Mae was now being stricken by waves of water, and soon her alligator dragon head got a good large smack in the eye from a nine section whip, letting out a horrid roar in pain.

"Ghhh...Why do you always have to persist against me?" Tamamo no Mae questioned in raw anger. "Goodness is only a distraction from the truth about the real world!"

"That's what you think!" Mai responded to the dragon. "But goodness and love is much stronger than sadness and suffering!"

Tamamo no Mae paused for a moment, thinking deeply. "I…"

A powerful dark energy began to flow around her, from all the fear everyone in the area had been emitting.

"I don't want to hear your nonsense!" Tamamo no Mae roared, letting out a massive, shaking shockwave of darkness that knocked everyone down from the sheer power of it. Such an attack was enough to make everyone back into their normal states.

"See? Hopelessness always is more powerful than your foolish friendship and whatnot! What a load of absolute nonsense!" Tamamo no Mae laughed at the heroes.

Among the chaotic battle, Noruka and Soruka both observed the damage being done. Noruka looked pretty displeased.

"We've been watching this fight and not getting involved in it!?" Noruka frustratedly questioned, taking a battle stance and looking about ready to jump right on into the fray. Soruka put his hand on his brother's shoulder to stop him to think for just a moment.

"Noruka, wait…" Soruka began to speak up. "Tamamo no Mae is powerful, we probably can't fight her alone or with simply both of our powers…"

"You're kinda right not gonna lie…" Noruka thought aloud, pulling out a red and black jewel marked with a singular line. Soruka did the same, but with a blue and black one marked with two lines. "If only we could really use these things for something more…"

"Yeah…" Soruka sadly commented.

Upon the jewels being held out together, something seemed to spark between the two shiny orbs, much to the shocking surprise of the twins.

"What the…" Both of them commented, as now there was an emblem similar to the four holy beast ones, but one with not one but two jewel slots, and with a yin and yang motif done in scarlet and cyan, laced with golden details.

"H-Hey!" Noruka gasped in shock. "This is like that thing ma uses!"

"Indeed...Could this be our answer?" Soruka commented with worry. "We would need someone strong of heart to even think about using it…"

"Strong of heart, you say?" Noruka responded with a grin on his face.

As swift as the wind, the twin yokai came to Mai's aid, sensing that they could help her.

"Hey!" Noruka shouted, throwing the red and black jewel and the emblem to Mai. "Use this!"

"Ack!" Mai yelped in shock, quickly picking up the two objects she was thrown. "T-Thank you!?"

"This could be of help as well…" Soruka added in, properly coming down and gently placing the blue and black jewel into Mai's hand.

Mai looked at the three objects intensely. "Does...Does this mean you see me as a friend?"

The twin yokai took a step back upon hearing those words. Friend? They were friends to her now.

"Y-You see us as friends?" Noruka commented in shock. "Even after I tried to hurt you?"

"And we've only met for a short amount of time?" Soruka added in, Mai looking up and giving a gentle smile.

"Well, I'm willing to forgive as long as you change your tune," Mai began to explain. "Which you have, I can see it in your eyes and sense it in your hearts, so I know it's absolutely genuine."

The blonde held out her hands to hold the hands of the twins. "Besides, to quote someone dear, you can never have too many friends."

The twins gently grasped Mai's hands in friendship, a large grin on Noruka's face and a gentle smile on Soruka's. It was a shame the three couldn't just hold their hands in serenity much longer. They had to face against Tamamo no Mae right here, and right now!

Inserting the jewels into emblem, Mai held it, feeling a warm feeling into her heart as words began to click into her mind.

"White bright fire of sunlight's dawn, black dark ice of moon's twilight! If you both would please come forth...Both of the Taijitu Guardians! Bright Guardian Noruka and Dark Guardian Soruka!" Mai shouted with all of her heart, a powerful dual beam of light allowing her to transform and power up further.

Mai now stood, wearing a beautiful and elaborate wushu uniform with cyan and scarlet themed to the Taijitu symbol, with a harmonious balance of light and dark throughout. Her hair was now held up in a ponytail, with decorative pins of mixed flower colors. In her hands was a set of two elegant dancing fans.

"W-What in the!?" Tamamo no Mae stammered. "I'd...I'd never think such a power was physically possible for you brats!"

"Because love and happiness overcomes all!" Mai said back, holding up her fans in a pose. Though for now, she could not waste anymore time.

The blonde girl looked absolutely determined as she held onto the twin's hands before floating up high into the air, the three pulling out their fans and focusing energy.

"Harmonious Dark and Bright Melody!" The three yelled with all their hearts, a Taijitu appearing under the large dragon and making a large barrier around her. Moments passed before she was pelted by many powerful lasers of firey and freezing energy over and over again, from all angles, before finally a blast of harmonious dark and light energy absolutely blasted the dragon to smithereens.

As the mighty evil dragon let out a roar of defeat, there was something everyone had to wonder among the dangerous fight…

During the intense fight, Kaira and Karou ran quickly, trying to avoid the onslaught of danger and fear everyone was giving. After a brisk run, the two reached a quiet area of the park, far enough to not be in danger but not too far that Kaira couldn't run back into battle to help out if needed.

"Thanks...kid…" Karou thanked between huffs in his breath. It had been so long since he had done a run so intense.

"Don't mention it," Kaira hesitantly responded, Karou getting a good look into his eyes. Something seemed to spark back up into the artist's mind.

"You know, it's probably a common things with Americans, but your eyes look an awful lot like my wife's…" Karou remarked, Kaira looking off a bit quitely.

"I'm not American, to be perfectly honest I don't know what I even am…" Kaira responded a bit dourly. "Other than a freak…"

Karou was quiet for a bit, before sitting down next to the snake king. "I felt the same way myself, actually…I've always wanted to write about someone who was two halves, hence why with the help of my wife I made Nyanpan Rider…"

The blue haired boy didn't have much else to say, looking off to the distance.

"But...even after my wife disappeared, I was determined to keep the spirit alive, hopefully to help children across the world who felt out of place or weird…" Karou finished, rubbing the back of his head. Kaira gave a heavy sigh.

"I wish losing my mom made me like that…" Kaira mumbled under his breath. "But instead I...I don't want to talk about it."

There was a silence between the two, Kaira clutching the locket that belonged to his dear mother. It was the closest thing he had to family, he couldn't lose it. It didn't matter if he couldn't even open it, it was so dear to him.

Even now, Kaira couldn't help but tear up a little. While he did have some friends now, he was still quite lonely, it just wasn't the same without his mother to give love and support when he needed it the most.

Though, the blue haired king's remorsing was soon interrupted by an intrigued question.

"My wife had that same necklace you're holding there…" Karou commented, Kaira's tearful eyes looking surprised at him. "At least I think so, mind if I take a closer look?"

Kaira was a bit hesitant, but he handed the locket over to Karou, making sure to tightly grasp around the cord it was attached to so he couldn't lose it.

The middle aged artist seemed to see some kind of inscripture by the emblem of the snake kings. It said a simple phrase.

The Things I Hold Most Dear.

It also seemed by some miracle, Karou was able to open it, Kaira rushing over with shock to not only reclaim it, but to take a gander what was inside.

The contents of the locket were two stunning pictures, delicately put into place and protected closely. Within were two photos, one of Karou on his wedding day, and the other of a tiny newborn Kaira.

Both of their hearts felt heavy as they were basically speechless. Tears formed into both of their eyes.

Karou had a son, and Kaira had a father...

Among the two's speechlessness, a light, ghostly apparition appeared before the two.

"I've waited long for this day…" The voice spoke, being the ghostly spirit of Kaira's Mother and Karou's wife, Paradmavati.

"M-Mother!?" Kaira gasped in shock.

"Tomoko, my dear?" Karou added in just as shocked.

The ghost of the snake queen smiled. "Yes, whatever you choose to call me, I'm here now…"

"W-Why did you leave so...so suddenly?" Karou asked, trying not to be angry upon seeing the ghost of his wife.

Paradmavati got silent. "Before the times of Yokai and Humans knowing well of our realms, having a hanyou son would have caused so much trouble for us both...So I chose to raise him myself...but made sure that one day, you two could reunite when there was harmony for both…"

"It was a tough choice, but I had to do what I must…" Paradmavati continued with her talk, becoming uneasy herself. "I'm truly sorry we couldn't all live together…even then...fate didn't want me to stay in this world for too long…"

"Kaira, you're still young but...I truly wish I could have seen you grow up fully…" Paradmavati finished, becoming tearful herself. "You're my pride and joy, my one and only beautiful child...But even then...even if I won't see you grow up fully, get married, become king properly...I'm still so proud of you…"

"R-Really?" Kaira choked back, Paradmavati smiled.

"Of course I am, there's only one of you out there, and you truly are a jewel," Paradmavati joyfully remarked. "Same for you, Karou dear, the both of you are truly grand…"

The three all tearfully hugged one another, embracing each other one last time. At long last, they were all back together. Even if it was for a moment in time, they were all happy they could all unite for a brief moment. However, Paradmavati broke off from the hug, looking saddened yet happy.

"I'm afraid it's my time to go now...You two...please take care of each other…" Paradmavati ended with, disappearing into thin air.

Karou closed the locket and handed it back to Kaira. He gave a look that was serious but full of heartfelt intent.

"Kaira...I mean...son...you have friends that are in danger…" Karou stated, Kaira remembering that simple fact. "You should go and help them, since I have a feeling it's dangerous."

"But...What if something happens to you?" Kaira asked with concern, Karou looking off.

"We'll worry about me later, for now, worry about yourself and your friends." Karou finished, looking at his son with strong eyes. "I'm pretty sure more than just your friends are counting on it…"

Kaira simply nodded in response, understanding what he has to do now. He felt a whirlwind of emotions in just a few moments of time. But right now, things were in danger, and he had to get back to the scene to help his friends.

After being struck with such raw power, Tamamo was a husk of her former self, starting to fade away in some spots as she slowly clutched her chest, breathing heavily.

"You….You won..." Tamamo no Mae huffed, getting the attention of the nearby Noruka, still pretty confident after that fight.

"You bet we did!" Noruka boasted, being quite proud of himself. Tamamo no Mae looked at the red haired yokai.

"Why don't you and your brother finish me off? I feel it would be the only honorable thing to do in order to obtain victory…" Tamamo no Mae pleaded, Noruka slowly stepping up, urdging Soruka to follow suit.

"C'mon, let's finish this!" Noruka started with a bit of aggression in his tone.

"S-Sure thing…" Soruka responded, a bit more quietly. "If we must do what we must…"

As the twin yokai approached Tamamo no Mae, the fading fox began to sinisterly grin as energy began to glow around her hands. Around the twins they were soon bound to pillars of dark energy.

"W-What the!?" Noruka asked, struggling to move.

"W-We can't move! W-What is happening!?" Soruka questioned as well, just as confused.

Through the sheer force of the dark energy, the chains around the twin's shoulder pads shattered, causing the energy binding to become even more painful, the two starting to scream in pain. Tamamo no Mae simply grinned and cackled at the sight of the two being twisted into plenty of pain and suffering.

"Your screams are beautiful music to my ears! Continue to scream, cry harder, cry for your mama and papa if you want, too! Let the despair consume you whole!" Tamamo no Mae laughed, as Noruka and Soruka began to suffer. The pain got more and more intense for the two, the darkness pillars getting stronger and stronger with more and more pain being evident in the two yokai's faces and hearts.

"Now...If it is true harmony you foolish humans and yokai want, allow me to give it to you…" Tamamo no Mae remarked, holding up her hands into the air as the dark energy got more and more powerful. It was clear she wasn't anywhere near her full strength, but she was not going to let that setback stop her.

"Let the earth shake and break apart, let the mountains explode with molten lava, let the lakes flood over, let the wind bring harsh and cruel weather, let the water be polluted, let the thunder strike everything in sight, let the fire engulf all around, let there be no more heaven!" Tamamo no Mae began to chant, a twisted pattern showing up on the ground and oozing with darkness and tremendous power. "Hear my call! Let the harmonious fusion of these souls bring forth the destructive one once again!"

Everything seemed to have reached a peak of intensity as Tamamo no Mae let out one final laugh. "I summon you, the great destructive one, Norukasoruka!"

As Tamamo no Mae finished her chant, she faded for good, but a large spiral of darkness started to form from where she performed the ritual on the twin yokai.

"W-What the!?" Mai stammered in panic, reaching out her hands to her friends to hold onto. It was a huddle of Mai, Kokoro, Shinju, Mao, Enma, and Kaira now, embracing each other for the great darkness that was coming. They didn't look up, but they felt that Suzaku, Genbu, Seiryuu, and Byakko were holding on as well, shielding them from the danger.

Bolts of dark lightning began to strike everywhere as the dark spiral got more and more intense, winds picking up. The wind felt truly ominous, having everyone's hearts beat in fear...not knowing what was going to happen next...


	10. Final Tale: Success or Failure…

**Final Tale: Success or Failure…Can we Shine Golden?**

After the dark winds took over, everyone was now standing on a large chunk of rock, crudely lifted up from where the fusion occurred. The iconic castle of the Dreamy Domain was there, but nothing else in sight. A dark, eerie abyss expanded below and above, thick and dark clouds swirling all around. Barely any light was visible within this dark and crude battlefield. The air was thick, feeling like it was where anything good and hopeful went to shrivel up and die.

"Guys...is...is everyone alright?" Mai asked, getting up from the great impact. She stumbled slightly trying to get up. It also seemed such a powerful impact from the ritual caused Mai and everyone else to revert to their civilian forms.

"Yeah I'm okay…" Kokoro muttered, getting up to join with Mai.

"Same here…" Shinju added in as well.

"My head hurts a little...But I'm alright as well," Mao stated.

"That was...something I'll say that much," Great King Enma made clear.

"Ow...What on earth happened?" Kaira gave his status to Mai.

Once all the young teens were together, their bestial companions joined up with them, having shifted to their humanoid forms.

"Ah great, seems history is repeating itself…" Byakko commented on the matters, not liking the sights he was seeing.

"She really did get the last laugh it seemed," Seiryuu observed.

"Of all the moments in my time...This was never one I wanted to ever relive," Suzaku roughly said under her breath.

"Perhaps there might be some hope, we're all together right?" Genbu tried to reassure.

"Yeah! We all have our…" Mai tried to cheerfully say, noticing her emblem on the ground. However, alongside hers and the other three, there was something deadly wrong.

All four of the holy beast emblems had been shattered in half, cleaved and completely rendered useless.

"N-No way, I thought they were indestructible!" Kokoro stammered, looking uneasy with the two halves of the broken azure emblem.

"I don't like how this is already starting…" Mao added in just as fearful, if not more so than Kokoro.

"How are we even going to try and get out of here?" Shinju panickedly questioned. Mai, while incredibly anxious about all this, took a deep breath to try and compose herself.

"M-Maybe we can at least try?" Mai stated, clearly quite tense about all this. Thankfully, while the emblems are broken, the Fire, Lake, Thunder, and Water jewels used to transform and call the holy beast yokai were still in tact. "The jewels are still here."

"Mai has a good point, we have the other jewels with us, so maybe they're scattered around here somewhere…" Great King Enma stated.

"Yeah it would be as easy as a springtime egg hunt….if it wasn't for that thing," Kaira snarkily commented, getting everyone to look up into the darkened sky.

Looming behind the fiberglass and steel castle, a large shadow was behind it. Whatever it was, it was big, easily the size of large monsters from old television and movies at a minimum, and could easy best any combiner robot from any recent live action hero shows in a fight. The being's red and blue eyes with piercing golden pupils gave a glare from the shadows, a glare enough to make even the bravest of soldiers shiver ever so slightly.

Making itself more clear from the shadows, it was a massive humanoid yokai, being half red, half blue, with plenty of black and white across it's design. It has massive, red and blue wings, sharp black tipped talons, onyx black horns, large fangs, yellow glowing bauga lines and a pentagon with the five classical elements: Fire, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Metal. Such a horrifying force radiated nothing but disharmony, like a bright light without any shadow, or night without the light of the moon or stars.

It was pure evil and discord, manifested into a horrifying physical form.

"It seems you have already lost…" The large yokai lowly boomed, his voice warped and twisted as he looked down at the group. "Unless you're willing to fight, like the way of me, Norukasoruka!"

Everyone was stunned at the voice of the twisted and evil yokai, combined from two recent friends of the young teens. They were shaken by such a being's presence, sending shivers. Mai took another deep breath, followed by another, and then another, trying to ease her shakiness to finally speak to her friends.

"Guys...we're going to have to try no matter what, this is a matter of winning or losing..." Mai spoke, trying to rally up everyone together.

"Living and Learning..." Shinju spoke up.

"Skate or die…" Kokoro added in.

"Sinking or swimming…" Mao said a bit fearfully.

"To succeed or to fail…" Enma chimed into the situation.

"All or nothing..." Kaira stated.

"Everyone! For everyone's sake, let's win this!" Mai shouted with her heart, knowing full well that this was it. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, but she kept herself steady.

"So you try to oppose me despite your disadvantage?" Norukasoruka asked sinister, taking up a battle stance of his own. "I'm going to win against all of you no matter what! That's the only thing I strive for!"

The large yokai was about to cleave one of his large talon-like hands down to the group, only for Suzaku to quickly fly in and hold back the large claw.

"I...won't...let...you...win...again!" Suzaku harshly said under her breath, trying to hold back the large unholy beast's claw from striking with all her might. The other three beasts made themselves clear, and while still in humanoid forms would still to try to put up a fight.

"We're going to try to hold off him as best as we can," Seiryuu explained to the teens. "Try to look for the other jewels, give the jewels you have to Great King Enma and find a safe place to try and call forth Huang Long!"

"Got it!" Mai said, running off to try and investigate. But before she did so, she, Kokoro, Shinju, and Mao quickly handed their sacred jewels over to Great King Enma. Fire, Lake, Water, and Thunder were in safe hands, now it was to find the rest...

Glistening nearby was the northeast jewel for Mountain, high up on some debris.

"There's one!" Shinju said to herself, starting to run up to climb up to the top of it. However, among the debris, the dark haired girl caught eye to eye with none other than Norukasoruka himself, though he seemed preoccupied facing against the immovable force that was Genbu.

The large tortoise yokai tried to stop the unruly beast by blooming some vines, but they quickly withered and were broken off quickly. Norukasoruka simply held up one of his large, talon like claws to the levelheaded duo.

From the amount of evil energy Norukasoruka radiated, he was able to make several large, pointed rocks start to violently rise, trying to mess up Shinju's ability to climb upwards to grab the mountain jewel.

Clutching onto her moonstone, Shinju began to focus some energy within her. She had been practicing her yoki abilities these past few months and had been trying to perfect them. She was not perfect by any means, but she was doing better.

"Hah!" Shinju yelled, unleashing a destructive yoki charge onto the cluster of mountains rocks to shatter them, making her swift climb a whole lot easier to quickly grab the jewel without any more issues.

At least, that's what she thought, as Norukasoruka looked at the long haired teen trying to run off with a jewel in hand.

As Shinju began to run, there seemed to be something a lot like darkened muddy water beginning to form under her, causing her not only to slow down, but to slowly start sinking into the ground as well.

"Not today…!" Genbu called out, using her floral magic once again to try and save Shinju. This time, it worked well, sapping up all the evil lake water and freeing Shinju. While the flowers and flora wilted away pretty quickly thanks to the heavy evil atmpsohere, at least Shinju was out in the clear.

"Thank you, Genbu!" Shinju thanked, starting to make a run for it, though she was still a bit concerned for her tortise friend.

"I can take plenty of hits, now go bring that jewel to that son of Huang Long and his friend!" Genbu finished, not even flinching at attempted strikes from Norukasoruka.

But, the old beast was right, Shinju had to hurry over to Enma and Kaira so they could hopefully put an end to this mayhem once and for all.

Meanwhile, Kokoro was making her way through and making sure to not take any sort of nonsense that Norukasoruka was throwing at her.

"Yeah you keep comin' at me like this, buddy!" Kokoro yelled, bursting with raw energy. Perhaps her heart was racing with anxiousness from the situation, but perhaps she really was just ready to take nothing in this situation.

Seiryuu was busy fending off Norukasoruka with calculated strikes to and fro, though even then it wasn't enough power to even make a dent into the evil being.

"Do you have any ideas?" Seiryuu questioned, trying to keep a steady pace. Kokoro was in deep thought, before seeing something in the corner of her eye and sparking with an idea.

She saw a sparkling jewel in the corner of her eye, the southeast jewel for wind. It was simply sitting there, waiting to be grabbed by someone in a small bowl like structure of rocks.

Easy said and easy done, Kokoro grabbed the jewel, but Norukasoruka took offense to that, raising another one of his talon like hands to send a wave of blackened, muddied water right her way. It would either be enough force to crush her, or to drown her within the structure, whichever was more likely to come first.

"...Shoot..." Kokoro muttered, noticing her situation has gotten a whole lot worse now.

And it was now getting even worse for Seiryuu, as there was a bit of a miscalculation on his part and got hit by one of Norukasoruka's large wings. One would expect them to be soft, but rather than that, they were as hard and as sharp as finely forged blades, enough to knock a dragon onto their back.

Though, this hopefully wasn't going to put too much of a halt into Kokoro's plan. Still feeling adrenaline beating through her fiber and soul, she busted with electrifying energy to awaken back to her true form of Suserihime.

At this rate, the wave of dark water was getting closer and closer, but the wild princess was not taking any prisoners. She took the wind jewel and leaped up into the air to assist her dragon friend, before emitting a large burst of lightning that completely vaporized the wave into thin air. Soon, Seiryuu was back on his feet, slightly baffled as the princess got onto his large scaly back.

"So, what's your plan?" Seiryuu asked with a bit of hesitation. "Even with all my calculations, that attack still struck me..."

Suserihime gave a smug grin. "Just keep charging at the big dude, aim for his eyes as well!"

Hesitantly nodding, Seiryuu took Suserihime's word for it and began to get closer and closer to Norukasoruka. Suserihime began to charge up with electrical energy, before reaching a maximum charge.

Once she reached a full charge, Suserihime got up and started to run across the back of Seiryuu, getting as much of full speed as she could, before jumping right off the big dragon's head and up into the air.

"Take this and regret it!" Suserihime rather angrily shouted, unleashing a strong bolt of lightning, striking right into the evil yokai's eyes. Norukasoruka howled in pain, Suserihime quickly jumping back onto the back of Seiryuu.

"Why...I won't be moved that easily!" Norukasoruka yelled, unleashing his own attack of lightning at the girl and the dragon. Bolts of dark, shadowy lightning began to strike all across the field, proving to be quite intense as they each made a thundering boom after each and every strike.

"Keep it up, Seiryuu! I believe in you!" Suserihime encouraged, holding on as tight as she could. "Because today we're not going to skate and then die, we're going to skate then live!"

Hopefully at this rate, Suserihime would return safely, able to hand over the jewel to get Huang Long summoned once again.

Elsewhere, Mao was trying to avoid even the slightest eye contact with the large demonic yokai, much like how his holy beast companion, Byakko, stayed within the shadows to strike unsuspecting foes.

It was all a matter of stealth and staying low among the mayhem of a battle. Not a sound could be made, not a sight could be seen. Not even a loud gasp could be made when Mao saw the jewel of the northwest, heaven, in plain sight. Very slowly and carefully Mao quickly grabbed the jewel, making absolutely sure not to make a single sound as he did so.

Though, the poor boy ended up tripping on a nearby rock, large enough to be tripped on, but small enough not to be seen on his way out. The tripping fall wasn't enough to make him drop the jewel, but it was just loud enough to make an audible thud.

Audible enough for Norukasoruka to turn around, spotting the poor boy.

"You're making this all too easy for me..." Norukasoruka muttered, before letting out a screech and a movement with his talons. It let out a massive fissure into what little earth there was here, crumbling underneath Mao, leaving him to fall into the cloudy abyss bellow to perish.

Or at least, that's what would have happened, had not a swift, white shadow came just at the right moment, when least expected.

"T-Thank you, Byakko," Mao thanked, the white tiger quickly jumping across the debris until they were back onto the main floating island, safe and sound.

"Don't mention it, but I don't think we're exactly out of the woods either..." Byakko commented, keeping a swift pace before finally stopping, and then realizing he and Mao were still within eyeshot of Norukasoruka.

The large demon demon have anything to say upon the survival of the two polar opposite souls. Only unleashing his dark magic once again, this time it being of a cloud of smoke to the two. But, from within the cloud, it felt like the weight of the sky was slowly but surely crushing them ever so slowly.

Feeling the literal pressure, Mao really had no choice at this point, but to awaken to his yokai form, Yeomao. Even in his true form with heightened strength, he still felt quite pressured within the cloud.

Keeping calm and focusing at the situation, Yeomao unleashed a strong whirlwind to disprese the pressure, freeing both him and Byakko. Byakko seemed to still be shaken by the pressure, so Yeomao quickly used his strength to bring the tiger to safety.

"Okay, now I think we're out of the woods kiddo," Byakko commented, doing rather feline stretches to warm himself back up. "Now I'm going to keep on fighting Norukasoruka to hopefully teach them a lesson...again..."

"Good luck, I'm going to make sure this jewel is brought safely!" Yeomao finished, running off as Byakko stealthily kept scoping a good place to strike the evil demon.

Finally, Mai was left trying to find the last jewel. She had clutched onto the Yin and Yang jewels very closely and dearly, and all she had to do was find the final one needed to summon Huang Long.

This was extremely tricky, however, as Mai didn't have her Yokai Jewels with her, nor would summoning really work with her watch and the sacred jewels. She didn't have any sort of magical powers or secret forms, she was just a normal girl from Sakura New Town.

Yet here she was, trying to run for the life of her away from this embodiment of raw evil. It didn't help that she wasn't exactly sporty or athletic like her brother, Gou Suzuki, yet she had to run over who knows how many debris at this point.

And it didn't help the tiny sparkle that belonged to the jewel of the southwest, representing earth, was pretty out of reach. The blonde quickly scurried around to grab some rocks to try and scale up to where the jewel was.

With a bit of dirty work, Mai was able to reach up to the lower part of the castle where the Earth jewel was, jumping up slightly to grab it. It was a tricky thing to grab, but Mai managed to do so.

"Got it!" Mai cheered to herself, starting to scale back down slowly to make sure she wouldn't fall. It wasn't tall enough that Mai could fall and die, but it was tall enough that Mai could seriously hurt herself if she wasn't careful.

Things were going smoothly for Mai, until a large gust of ominous wind made sure she lost all her balance, and given her slightly clumsy nature, it was only natural she would start to fall downwards.

"W-Waah!" Mai yelped, only for Suzaku to notice the call for the girl and swooping in to save her.

"You alright there?" Suzaku asked, getting back up into the air as Mai re positioned herself.

"Y-Yeah..." Mai said between some heavy breaths. "H-Haven't...climbed...that much in like...ever..."

As something didn't feel quite right in the air, Mai popped in a question to her feathered companion. "Is...Is this form why they were sealed in the first place?"

Suzaku was silent for a bit moments, before eventually answering. "Yes...This form, Norukasoruka, is dangerously powerful. His heart is blackened with darkness, going to the absolute extremes...Such a destructive force nearly brought the end to humanity and yokai alike…"

The blonde girl could absolutely see why that was the case. Norukasoruka was one thing: horrifying. But, even within these tense atmosphere, she had to focus.

"While this is a powerful form of pure evil...Maybe there's some light left in his heart…" Suzaku remorsefully commented. "I don't want to think I'm just having rose tinted glasses for days long passed…"

What Suzaku had said gave Mai some hope. Maybe...Just maybe...Something could work...If things kept going simply and smoothly right now...

Yet, things didn't seem to go that simply this time. The gusts of wind only got more and more strong, as Norukasoruka gave a mighty gust of very uneasy wind from beating his wings. The wind got strong enough that while Suzaku was able to keep on flying, Mai fell right off.

Briefly, it seemed thankful as she was caught by something before she came crashing down, but it soon became a bad thing as she realized what had "saved" her from the fall. She was gripped between the large, talon like hands of Norukasoruka, but thankfully had some wiggle room to get into her pockets before the grip got too tight for her unable to do so.

"Suzaku!" Mai yelled, catching the bird's attention. The blonde held up the jewels for Earth, Yin, and Yang in her hand. "Quickly catch these!"

Suzaku didn't say another word as the blonde dropped each of the jewels, one by one, catching them within her large talons with one somersault motion in the air.

"Bring those to Enma and Kaira, quickly please!" Mai asked of Suzaku, the great bird looking a bit concerned.

"What about you? Do you realize how much danger you're in!?" Suzaku responded, Mai looking a bit hesitant, before nodding in panic.

"I...I'll think of something, don't worry! But for now, go help the others!" Mai finished, before the large talon like hand brought the blonde face to face with Norukasoruka.

Elsewhere, within one of the rooms within the palace like structure, Great King Enma and Kaira were busy trying to get the summoning for Huang Long underway.

"Mark it like...this..." Kaira muttered to himself, swiftly using his sword to draw lines and kanji in the earth. There was a specific pattern that needed to be followed, and Kaira made sure to work efficiently and yet quickly. Time was certainly not on their side.

Meanwhile, Great King Enma stood in the very center of the summoning circle, focusing all his energy. It would all come down to this, to see if his powers would be enough to bring forth the great light again, and finish this once and for all.

"Seems everyone has brought over their jewels, Suzaku bringing over the jewels for Mai," Kaira commented, looking a bit worried.

"Did you see Mai at all?" Great King Enma asked, still trying to stay focused. Kaira simply placed the last two jewels, the Yin and Yang ones, on their place on the circle.

"Sadly no, but I'm sure she's alright," Kaira remarked, having a bit of doubt and hesitation.

Elsewhere within the same domain, skies were much greyer and bleaker...

"So, a plain, unnoteworthy human among all these yokai and souls more closely tied to yokai..." Norukasoruka questioned, his evil gaze piercing right though Mai's heavy feeling heart. Norukasoruka unfurled his hand, letting Mai stand, or at least try to. Her legs felt like very gelatin as she attempted to stand, making sure not to fall.

"Noruka...Soruka..." Mai began, trying to make sure her voice could be heard to the large winged monster. "Do you realize what you're doing? You're causing so much destruction and decay!"

Norukasoruka furrowed his eyes, glaring down at Mai. "I'm winning, that's what, and winning is all that matters..."

"Can you even feel things like love? Happiness? Any of that?" Mai asked, border lining on tears. "Do you remember what I said about our friendship? Or how much you loved and missed your mother?"

"I don't understand what you're saying," Norukasoruka responded to the girl. "The only thing that beats through my heart is a desire create a world without any goodness left in it. Since why bother, anything good or you fondly savor will just be sapped away. It's pointless to have a world with such a thing, so I'll do everything to make a hopeless world a reality, which will come at breaking either this world or myself!"

Norukasoruka took a moment to think, before getting back to his speech. "But, whatever you're blabbering about...why do you fight? Why do you say such...such things that don't make any sense?"

"Because you're our friend! We know your hearts are in there somewhere, and we want you to listen!" Mai snapped back, tearing up absolutely at this point. "We know neither of you want to cause such destruction! We know the both of you are good despite how broken you are deep down! Just listen to us, please!"

There was a pause of silence, only the gusting sound of the ominous wind. Norukasoruka looked displeased at what Mai had to say.

"All you're doing is making it harder for me to win, and I don't think I'm going to keep allowing you to stand here and spew nonsense! People like you deserve to perish in the new world I'm going to usher in!" Norukasoruka concluded, turning over his hand to let Mai start plummeting downwards, being many feet up in the air.

Nor was this the end for Norukasoruka's plan. He spread both of his arms, flapping his wings even stronger now.

"Take this! Flame Blizzard!" Norukasoruka boomingly shouted, unleashing a large gust of wind that began to manifest into small snowflakes and embers, before quickly turning into what felt and looked like both a forest fire and a blizzard, constantly twirling in the air like one deadly tornado.

And Mai kept on falling, getting faster and faster. The storm of both flame and ice was not helping, and nothing could really be done with it either. She just had to brave on through it, hoping she would survive through it.

Now, Mai was unsure that she was even going to survive, until a bright light started to appear nearby, breaking through the darkness and storm, getting bigger and bigger. There was a large figure starting to appear in the light, two smaller ones accompanying them. One of the smaller figures seemed to start heading to Mai, shortly followed by the other smaller figure...

Norukasoruka only gave a small "oh?" when the light died down slowly, revealing what had come from the light.

What had emerged from the light was a massive dragon, easily the size of Norukasoruka himself and towering over the other holy beasts. His scales were a glistening gold that glistened, his mane being made of solid, flowing light. He was accented by armor that was a light jade, and consisted of a solid jade face plate and a chest plate with a Bagua, all of the jewels in place.

The being wasn't entirely dragon either, being accented with white, black, vermilion, and azure throughout. His front legs were that of a dragon and a tiger, and his back legs were that of a tortoise and a great bird.

"Norukasoruka..." The large dragon began to speak, his voice booming with nobility. "Your reign of chaotic terror ends here!"

The other beasts and their human partners looked at the sight with awe. "That...That must be..."

"Bringing the golden light from heaven to earth, I am the great beast god of the center..." The grand dragon began to introduce, starting to pose slightly to make his introduction much more stylish. "Huang Long!"

"If Huang Long was summoned...then who were..." Genbu began to ask, the two smaller figures making themselves much more clear before the group.

It was none other than Enma and Kaira, looking different yet the same. Enma's hair was now much more spiky and tipped with a pearlescent white, and a third eye having been awakened on his forehead. His eyes were a much more vibrant gold now, donning elegant robes of an empror that were done in gold and a deep violet.

Kaira had similar gold and violet clothing, but being more of a royal blue shade. His hair now flowed a lot more and was a deep gold tipped with bronze, his eyes being silver and gold instead of their usual blue and red. Most notably Kaira now had a snake tail and several patches of scales being more apparent, done in a glistening silver and accented with gold.

By their side, they both held onto Mai's hands, before gently descending. Mai looked at the two in eye widdening wonder.

"E-Enma!? K-Kaira!?" Mai gasped happily to see her friends.

"Hey, you saved me, it was the least I could do," Great King Enma smiled back, looking confident.

"Summoning Huang Long was a success, but I'm not sure if I was expecting this..." Kaira commented, seeming a bit shocked at his awakened powers. Perhaps since it was because he and Great King Enma were both nobility? Who knows…

Once Mai was returned to safety, Great King Enma looked over to Kaira, balling up his fists. "You know, Norukasoruka isn't gonna beat up himself!"

Kaira gave a smile back, looking back at Great King Enma. "You're right, not gonna lie,"

Soon enough, the regal boys flew up to join alongside Huang Long to face against Norukasoruka, ready to face against the evil that was ahead.

Taking note of the trio that opposed him, Norukasoruka charged energy into his hands, firing large bullets of evil energy at the three.

Huang Long was able to send bullets of light in response, canceling out most of Norukasoruka's evil energy bullets. But for the few stray ones, they were quickly taken care of by Great King Enma shooting similar light bullets or Kaira slicing right through them with his sword.

Frustrated and still determined to win, Norukasoruka began to fly right to Huang Long, both the massive beasts of light and darkness tackling and clawing eachother to claim a singular victor. They were both very equally matched, several strikes appearing on both beings.

But even then, things started to look ever slightly grim for the side of Huang Long, and someone took quick note of it and wasn't going to hesitate.

"I've had enough of this!" Great King Enma yelled, focusing plenty of energy, it practically radiating off of him at this point.

Forming in the king's hands was a small ball of violet energy laced with gold, it eventually getting bigger and bigger before it became absolutely massive. Great King Enma then held it up in the air with both of his hands, looking angrily at Norukasoruka.

"Take this! Supreme Golden Awakening Eyeball Rage!" Great King Enma shouted with all his might, unleashing the energy blast onto the evil demonic bird, exploding into light as Norukasoruka let out a mighty hiss upon being stricken with the light.

It was enough for him to start shifting his attention over to Great King Enma and Kaira, giving time for Huang Long to start focusing energy himself.

Kaira took out his sword, starting to pose. His blade began to glow with a powerful light energy, as the snake king began to dash in the air right after Norukasoruka, rasing his mighty snake blade high into the air.

"Glistening One Thousand Snakes Wave!" Kaira screamed, seeming to slice right through the thin air in front of him, a cut between the hypothetical fabric appearing and releasing several large snakes made of light. They were all angry and made their way to Norukasoruka, pelting him repeatedly before Kaira charged right in to deliver the last blow with his blade.

"Ghhh...You're pretty persistent, aren't you?" Norukasoruka arrogantly scoffed, still managing to fly in the air, but there seemed to be quite a bit of a dent on him.

"You're going to want to change your tune with your attitude..." Huang Long began, a truly powerful amount of energy radiating from him. "Since all of us here, we're going to make sure you don't come close to winning ever again!"

Huang Long closed his eyes and began to focus his energy one last time, the energy starting to split off before shaping into large spiritual manifestations of a dragon, bird, tiger, and tortoise.

"Golden Radiant Cardinal Beast Charge!" Huang Long called out, dashing right into Norukasoruka, the spiritual beast manifestations joining in alongside the great holy beast. The power was truly great, as what looked like a large comet of light took Norukasoruka up high into the air, before swiftly crashing on down, getting faster and faster before slamming the beast right into the castle. To top it all off, Huang Long turned the beast manifestations back into energy, and then launched them at Norukasoruka like solid rockets of light.

"Alright!" Shinju cheered despite the large crash and debris.

"Huang Long truly is powerful..." Mai commented on the fight in awe at the sheer power.

Victory was claimed for the side of good...Though the clouds weren't dispersing...Nor did anything seem to go back to how it was before…

Once the debris of the great castle cleared, Norukasoruka shook off the rubble, still in that form and quite enraged. His heart was cold, and his eyes fiery with rage as he started to fly on back up into the air. Darkness radiated from him, more than ever.

"You...All of you..." Norukasoruka huffed, absolutely full of rage. On the ground several dark markings on the ground began to appear. "None of you are going to win against me!"

The mighty evil beast flapped his wings and spread out his arms.

"Win or Loose, Breakthrough Limit!" Norukasoruka shouted loudly, the floating island everyone was on or nearby soon being destroyed and pelted by blasts of evil energy, seeming to have shrieks and screams of people, yokai, and everything in between in pain and suffering.

The island began to crumble, and everything with it. There was nothing left for anyone to stand on, and Huang Long, Great King Enma, and Kaira began to fall down alongside Suzaku, Mai, Genbu, Shinju, Seiryuu, Kokoro, Byakko, and Mao. They tried to fly back upwards, but it couldn't be done. There was too much pressure, making it impossible for any of them to get back up.

Then it was nothing but darkness, blackness throughout...While everyone in the group was different from differing parts of the world and witnessing things in their own way, they all shared the same exact question.

"Is this what it feels like to die?"

Across the human and yokai worlds, darkness began to spread throughout, not a hint of light in the sky or anybody's hearts. Everyone kept chanting about despair and suffering, no longer believing in any hope or goodness in the world...It truly was a bleak and horrfying world come to reality…

Except…

Except there were a few flickers of light among the darkness…

Nyanmajo and Sailornyan were still enjoying their vacation, at least are attempting to.

"Hey...Why is everyone, and I mean literally everyone here so glum?" Sailornyan asked with concern, looking around. Nyanmajo shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure, but I don't like the vibes in the air..." Nyanmajo commented, before holding her wand closely to her. "However...I hope Mai and her friends are safe..."

"Even if things start looking dour like this, we can't loose sight of the good in the world..." Sailornyan responded, still keeping her head up high with Nyanmajo.

Across the globe, the Sakura New Town Zoo was once bustling, but now nearly every person, yokai, and animal is hung over with sadness and unease.

"Isn't the zoo supposed to be happy, Rabby, Mama?" The usually chipper voice of the young moon prince, Tsukinoyami, asked their mother, Kaguyahime, and her faithful companion Snow Rabby.

"You're right, young one..." The head keeper of the zoological park, Darwin, pondered. "But not even I know exactly what's going on..."

"None of us do, sadly..." Kaguyahime said with a great dissapointment. Snow Rabby perked up a little bit.

"I don't know, maybe if Shinju was here, she would know what to do..." Snow Rabby tried to lighten things up.

"She's really smart! She could probably make all these animals happy again!" Tsukinoyami responded, seeming a bit hopeful now.

"Though even she's on that trip with her friends...I do hope all is well..." Kaguyahime began to wonder, hoping for the best…

Deep under the sea of the yokai world, there was a bit of a panic of unease. Several of the nobility were scurrying around pretty worried. It got bad enough that even Fuyunyan Ace was on the scene to try and help out the worried queen of the sea.

"What am I going to do..." Otohime began to wonder, feeling uneasy as she was at the bedside of her adoptive child, Umioji Orochi. Poor child wasn't feeling too well, curled up in his blankets.

"Why is nobody being hopeful...Everyone's saying the worst of the worst..." Otohime's slightly younger uncle, Nanda-Ryuuoh, began to question as well.

"Mama?" Umioji Orochi asked softly, keeping his innocent and sweet eyes of his filled with joy.

"Y-Yes dear?" Otohime asked, softly grasping her child's hand.

"When I'm better...can you make sure Kokoro comes back over again?" Umioji Orochi asked sweetly. "I wanna...play with her again..."

"Of course dear," Otohime smiled with in response, Fuyunyan ace coming into the room.

"Even if she's dealing with larger things now, she's going to make sure any bad things are defeated as soon as possible," Fuyunyan Ace assured as well.

"Why hope for the worst when we can all start hoping for the best," Nadna Ryuuoh finished with a smile, trying to keep the spirits light hearted. It was just a common yokai flu virus the little sea snake had, so he will be back to his happy self in no time.

Within the Yokai World, near a serene mountainside, a group of yokai had gone out to get some peace despite everyone becoming mindless and groaning only about despair and how the world was hopeless. The group of three were being lead by Yamaokami, who brought them over to a peaceful looking shrine on the quiet yokai mountainside.

"I had the seven lucky gods pass through here recently," Yamaokami commented on the matters, taking a moment to pause with silence.

"Oh dear, seems even yokai divinity isn't safe from feeling uneasy from all this..." Jorogumo added in her own comments to the matter, her hand covering her mouth slightly.

"They rely a lot on blessing with happiness and luck...and a world without any of that struggles their existence," Ashura stated, giving a hefty sigh.

"At this rate, all we can do is hope things get better..." Oyamori finished, still feeling a bit glum, but nowhere as glum as everyone else across both realms.

At the shrine, the spirit of a great horse like dragon with a singular horn appeared before the four.

"Lord Ikkaku..." Yamaokami gasped, having a bit of doubt in her voice. The spirit of Ikakku looked at the four.

"I can sense within the wind that times are looking dour, I know someone is making sure the world will shine brightly again..." Ikkaku began, looking up the clouded up sky. "Mao...Wherever you are, I hope you're making sure either the human or yokai realm a happier place..."

"Mao, huh?" Ashura remarked with a head tilt. "I'll keep that name in mind..."

While everyone except Ikkaku in that group had met Mao, they kept him close in their thoughts, knowing whoever he was, they were important and needed to return home safely.

Still within the yokai world, the great palace that ruled over every yomakai was cast under dark skies as well. Nobility felt at unease as it seemed with the light, all hope had completely faded as well.

"Oh Yami, what's wrong with you, your highness?" The usually flamboyant Gorgeous Tashi asked, being followed behind by Chocolina, Norino Hanako, and Mebinanyan.

"It's...It's nothing..." Yami responded, her voice a bit uneasy.

"Are you sure? I feel something uneasy in your heart..." Chocolina responded with. Mebinanyan held her fan to her face, walking up to her longtime friend.

"It's about your son, is it?" Mebinanyan asked, Yami slowly nodding.

"Whatever he's doing right now, it can't be easy...And last thing I want him to to perish at the hand of darkness again..." Yami began, slowly forming each word but still managing to keep a strong head.

"None of us do..." Norino Hanako assured.

"But none of us need to loose our hope in this world," Yami finished her statement, with a nod. "I know Jizou's strong, so maybe this will be like nothing to him..."

Hope couldn't be lost, even among the highest ranking yokai, and it still was within their hearts no matter what.

The scene focused now to the disheveled remains of the palace of snake kings. It seems to have gone into abandonment and disrepair after a fight broke out within most of the parts of it with nobody to rule over. However, one soul was busy recovering whatever mementos could be found.

"Oh dear...This place looks like a mess" Yao Bikuni began to herself, looking around before finding an old photo album that belonged to Paradmavati. There weren't a lot of photos of her, but plenty of her dearest and only son, Kaira. It brought a warm feeling to the mermaid's heart, being there for a few of those memories.

"Kaira..." Yao Bikuni began to monologue to herself, knowing nobody can hear her, but that was okay. "You're a very troubled child, and you've been through a lot in such a short amount of time..."

The mermaid yokai flipped through some of the pages, finding a photo of the snake king with his beloved mother, feeling the warm happiness from the image. "But I know your heart is in the right place despite everything. Please keep fighting for a better world, one that you and your mother would have loved..."

Even if there was a single soul, it brought a lot of power. Yao Bikuni couldn't also help but shake the feeling some of her clinging of hope was coming right from the Divine Plain itself.

Lastly, our last stage is in the human realm, within the usually peaceful Sakura New Town. Though, the skies were grayed and so was just about everyone else. Not anyone seemed to flinched upon hearing a loud crash near the sacred tree just outside of the residential area of the bustling town.

Though, there were some that seemed to have heard it.

"Come on! We got to hurry!" The voice of Mai's twin brother, Gou Suzuki yelled out, running as fast as he could. By his side was the half dog, half cat yokai, Inunyan, the two seeming have become friends.

"We can't let a crash like that go undetected!" Inunyan woofed, following behind the boy. They were going fast enough they didn't pay attention to the streets and crosswalks, not even pressing the light.

"Hold it," A familiar, almost equally energetic voice said, booming with justice as he appeared in front of the duo. "I, the ally of burning justice, Kyubi, won't allow you to break such a law!"

Kyubi took a moment to pause, before rubbing the back of his ears. "Well, I'm here more to give a polite warning. You don't want to know who punishes naughty, jaywalking brats."

"Listen, neither of us can pay attention right now!" Gou tried to explain to the Kitsune. "There was a large crash nearby and nobody is really paying attention! I have to do something!"

"I see..." Kyubi commented back. "I'll keep an eye on you, but don't do it again, alright?"

The trio ran to where the crashing sound was at, revealing to be not just any crash, but that of the great ship the Seven Lucky Gods used to go to and fro, to bless people wand yokai alike with good fortune.

"Seems...Seems we're the ones in need of luck, huh?" Benzaiten commented, being the first to see the group.

"W-What happened!?" Inunyan questioned in fear. Benzaiten getting up and shaking her head.

"Something awful is brewing in the yokai and human worlds, literally everyone seems to have given up on happiness and luck..." Benzaiten explained. "So even yokai gods like us, we start to loose power..."

Gou looked up. "Well, I haven't given up yet! My sister can be a pain sometimes, but she's taught me to be better, even with all these funny spooky ghost guys around! None of us can give up now!"

"Your sister huh?" Benzaiten responded, giving a sweet smile, remembering the good times. "She's a strong one, we can count on her and her friends to clear up these cloudy skies..."

"Mai! Kokoro! Shinju! Some other people, probably!" Gou shouted to the skies as loudly as he could. "Wherever you are, don't loose yet!"

Even if it seemed to be a hollow attempt to call into the sky, the blond boy seemed to have some belief in himself that his words would somehow reach…

Darkness still remained in the realm Mai and company were fighting at, though it slowly started to clear up. The weightlessness and darkness started to fade away, the echos of everyone's hopes and prayers began to flicker in everyone's hearts. It was proof of one powerful concept, one that won time and time again.

Love, Happiness, Hope, and Goodwill always conquered Hatred, Fear, Sadness, and Dread.

A powerful rainbow of light lifted through the void, the silhouettes of everyone starting to rise back up. Norukasoruka couldn't help but look at what was happening.

"W-What...What is this!?" Norukasoruka questioned, seeing everyone rise up again.

The holy beast yokai of Suzaku, Genbu, Seiryuu, and Byakko were back, still in their more bestial forms, but now with glittering gold armor and accents in some places. They all managed to fly in the air, being lifted with a great power.

And their companions, Mai, Shinju, Suserihime, and Yeomao had also returned. They were on the backs of their beloved beast companions, and in their transformation outfits with them. Though much like their beast partners, they had gotten golden accented upgrades.

"If this is a matter of winning or loosing, we aren't going to loose anymore!" Mai let out a loud yell, making sure the demon could hear her words.

Behind the quartet, Great King Enma and Kaira were still there, in their awakened forms, though Huang Long seemed to have taken on a new form.

The great dragon god was now more humanoid, but his limbs still resembling that of each of the beasts. He wore the clothing of a great and powerful emperor, his hair still being flowing light. In his hand was a jian sword that had light golden accents and the main blade being made of more of a brighter, yellow-ish gold. It was decorated to the motif of the four cardinal beasts.

"It is my duty as Great Beast God King Huang Long to make sure both worlds are at peace once more!" Huang Long shouted as well, his voice far more booming and intimidating. "So surrender, foul demon!"

Huang Long charged right at Norukasoruka, and while he was much smaller in comparison to the mighty demon, he still managed to put up a fight by slashing through dark bullets fired by the dark being. The great dragon humanoid used his blade to try and counter a slash from the evil yokai, though it was becoming clear he was going to need time to charge up his soultimate, and he was going to need help in the meantime.

Before he knew it, Norukasourka found himself being pelted with a great wave of water that glimmered with radiance, even with barely any light visible.

"Alright, let's get this started!" Suserihime yelled, getting into a fighting stance as she and Seiryuu focused energy together.

"Take this! Supreme Tsunami Dragon Breaker!" Suserihime shouted with all her might, cracking out her nine section whip. With a mighty crack and a water spell from Seiryuu, two massive waves of water seemed to form out of thin air, crashing onto Norukasoruka before the two waves came together into a dragon-shaped whirlpool to finish the attack, ending with a great roaring splash.

"You..." Norukasoruka hissed, shaking off the water from the large attack. Shinju got on top of the head of her large tortoise friend, getting a closer look at the winged yokai.

"Do you need a healing spell to help with that?" Shinju asked, spinning her staff around and focusing with Genbu. "We can absolutely help with that!"

Once enough energy was focused, Shinju leapt up into the air, her staff twirling. "Queen Mother Nature's Greatest Healing Call!"

Genbu closed her eyes, as Shinju kept spinning her staff, this time glowing, seed like pellets starting to spew from the spinning stick. The glowing seeds stuck onto Norukasoruka, all throughout. Shinju gracefully landed on his head, tapping her staff on top of the demon, allowing the seeds to grow into vines before the teen jumped off and back over to Genbu.

When the tortoise finally opened her eyes, a truly radiant amount of flowers explosively blossomed, causing Norukasoruka to howl in pain from the blossoming attack.

As the winged demon howled, the stealthiest white shadows were up next, having already prepared their charge beforehand.

"I-I don't have anything cool to say but..." Yeomao began with a bit of a stutter in his usually quiet voice, before getting back to focusing on the matters. "King's Roaring Night Blizzard Claw!"

With that shout, Byakko and Mao took differing sides of Norukasoruka, starting to be cloaked in beautiful diamond dust snow. The two charged up undetected, cloaking Norukasoruka in a truly staggering amount of snow, then finally finishing it off with a slash from ice covered claws from both Yeomao and Byakko.

"Tsk...I still won't loose! I won't allow it by any sort of power!" Norukasoruka roared in his booming voice. Before long, his eyes were met by a girl and her giant bird.

"If you won't listen to our words..." Mai began, focusing with a fiery energy with Suzaku, a truly determined look on the sweet girl's face. "...Then we will make you feel our actions!"

Mai held her arms out, before jumping off of Suzaku, flying all on her own now. Her feather companion wasn't far behind, keeping up with the girl's pace, hearts beating in sync.

"Majestic Majesty Corona Feather Dance!" Mai shouted, starting to gracefully twirl around Norukasoruka alongside Suzaku. Feathers started to float around Norukasoruka gently and easily...before starting to fall faster and faster, into a great whirlwind, starting to get hotter and hotter, until finally exploding into several large bursts of sparkling flames.

"This...This isn't over just yet!" Norukasoruka responded quite aggressively to all the attacks he was pelted with. He flapped his wings once more, unleashing the small blasts of evil energy, though they merely bounced off of everyone.

Feeling humiliation for his attack not working, Norukasoruka focused a bit more, unleashing bigger, more dangerous blasts of evil energy. None of them managed to affect anyone, as they were quickly sliced down with the striking power from a certain golden jian sword…

Huang Long didn't have anything to really say at the moment, his radiance was glowing and quite powerful at this rate. He held up his mighty blade into the air.

"The shadows are deep right now..." Huang Long began to speak to himself, his blade starting to glow powerfully. "But, with shadow, there is a light...And I am the light that will outshine your dark evil!"

Huang Long gave a mighty shout, lunging himself lightning fast to Norukasoruka, his blade becoming that of solid light. First he slashed to the north, the sky clearing in that direction to reveal the black tortoise constellation. Then a cleave to the east, showing the azure dragon constellation. A strike from the southern sky displayed the vermilion bird constellation. Finally, there was a cut from the west, unveiling the white tiger constellation.

"Come forth, my comrades!" Huang Long called forth, the holy beast yokai coming to join alongside Huang Long. They all glowed with a powerful force, unlike any seen before as the stars in the sky began to shine.

"Now, let us finish this, right here, and right now!" Huang Long shouted, his sword of light becoming rather large, the great beast king leading a powerful charge right to Norukasoruka.

"This won't be your victory!" Norukasoruka shouted, his claws glowing with an equally as powerful, but far more sinister, energy around them.

Using his mighty claws, Norukasoruka begins his attempt to stop the great charge from striking him. He seems to be doing his best to start pushing away Huang Long and his sword, alongside the other four holy beast yokai.

"Tsk...none of us are in the mood to loose to you today, neither are...any of our friends!" Byakko snarkily stated, starting to focus even more.

"Even if the odds are slim...I believe we will succeed...Our numbers are greater...and have a greater strength in the heart….!" Seiryuu commented as well, focusing his energy even greater.

"Life in both the human and yokai worlds is truly stunning...And absolutely worth preserving, for those I've met and those I haven't!" Genbu added in, her the force in her heart starting to get even more powerful.

"As my friend said...If you won't listen to our words...we'll make you feel our actions!" Suzaku screeched, making sure her heart and soul were into full focus.

"All of us together, the light in our hearts will outshine your darkness!" Huang Long finished, focusing his strength even harder this time. With everyone in full focus, they all managed to break through Norukasoruka's attempt to stop them, fizzling off all the evil energy from his claws.

"Divine Heaven and Earth Shaking Shimmering Cleave!" Huang Long loudly announced, his blade now at it's full strength now.

The five charged forward, glowing with light and ready to claim victory. Finally, they all unleashed a beam-like slash that had the power of heaven and earth, cleaving right through Norukasoruka with a great explosive shine.

The last thing that could be heard from the evil yokai was a loud scream, the area starting to fill with a blinding amount of light...Nobody could really see what was happening…

Once the light calmed down, The floating island was back together again, though missing the large castle. The skies were far less dark, the stars from earlier still sparkled and shining with other stars.

Mai, Shinju, Great King Enma, and Kaira all returned to their normal selves, whereas Suserihime went back to being Kokoro, and Yeomao became Mao again.

"Is...Is it finally over?" Mao asked, looking around.

"Seems like it, and we've won too..." Great King Enma remarked.

But, something was off, something was preventing everyone from cheering for victory.

The four holy beast yokai were there, but there were parts of them that were starting to fade away with glimmers of golden dust. Noruka and Soruka were there, but knocked out cold. Huang Long was still there, in his humanoid form, but silent with a face of remorse on his face.

Quickly, everyone rushed over to their beast companions, Great King Enma rushing to the aid of Noruka and Kaira to Soruka.

"Seiryuu!" Kokoro yelled, kneeling down to the dragon's head and slowly petting him on the head. "W-What's happening!?"

"I'm afraid it's our time to go..." Seiryuu remarked weakly, looking up. "We wanted to make sure the human and yokai worlds wouldn't separate again...possibly even completely...but it came at a cost..."

"I thought...all of you were immortal or something..." Kokoro commented, trying to hold back her tears. "I was hoping...you'd teach me more about a lot of things...since I'm not all that smart..."

"That's a long story..." Seiryuu responded, giving a gentle smile. "However, you taught me something new...that being about just...going for it without any calculation...And I'm happy..."

"Byakko..." Mao weakly gasped, trying to hold the weak paw of the tiger gently.

"Yeomao...Mao...no...my son..." Byakko began to respond to his third child. "You and me both know I've messed up greatly in a lot of places...So I think this is for the better...in all honesty..."

"But...You can try to learn to better yourself, right?" Mao asked, looking very uneasy.

Byakko looked off to the side. "I'm at least glad I got to apologize to you...and Soruka...but sometimes you just don't have time to learn...and people will only remember you for your mistakes..."

The tiger gave a weakened smile. "Maybe my successor will be much better than me...Guide the next White Tiger of the West to being a better soul...for me and everyone else...please..."

"Genbu...are you still here?" Shinju asked, the great tortoise on her side, weakly turning her neck to face Shinju, giving a weak nod in response.

"I'm still here, but not for much long..." Genbu stated, shaking her head. "Even if someone else is lined up to take my title, I'm going to miss having it...It was a lot of fun..."

"And I'm going to miss you plenty too..." Shinju responded, being tearful. "You were like a mother to all of us...even to me...who lost my mom so fast..."

"I won't be gone, Shinju...None of us will..." Genbu spoke back very calmly. "Just...Think of it was a long trip we're all taking...Our day to meet again will come...Don't worry..."

"Suzaku..." Mai asked sweetly and gently, soon coming to the bird's side one last time.

"Mai..." Suzaku added in, looking up weakly.

"Things for us both...They started really rough..." Mai began, starting to tear up. "But...You've become such a great friend...I'm not sure what I'd do without you..."

"Heh...I see you as a friend as well..." Suzaku began to genuinely and kindly say. "...Someone who can get past my hard shell…is someone more powerful than I am..."

Mai hugged the bird by the head, starting to cry even louder. "I...I can't say goodbye to you now...It's too soon..."

Everyone's emotions were quite tearful, but thankfully, Noruka and Soruka were finally starting to wake up.

"You...You're still here..." Noruka questioned, trying to deny just how weak he was right now as he looked up to Great King Enma.

"We're...we're alive…!?" Soruka asked in shock, happily surprised to see they were still alive, no longer fused.

Though, the twins soon started to notice that their defusion and survival seemed to have come at a great cost. Their hearts almost stopped, starting to sink upon this realization coming to light.

"M-Ma!" Noruka yelled, trying to get up, but his body was unable to at the moment. He hastily started to try to get his body to work, insisting his brother to come on and hurry. They didn't have healing powers, but maybe they could try to save their mother, father, Seiryuu, and Genbu.

However, by time both twins got up, it was too late. The physical forms of the four holy beast yokai were gone, the beast's friends starting to tear up over the loss of the great yokai.

"Please...remember what I said.." The gentle voice of Genbu stated, Shinju feeling something trying to wipe her tears. "I'm not gone forever..."

In front of the dark haired girl was Genbu, now in her humanoid form, but transparent and spiritual. She got a wardrobe update as well, wearing the clothes of a Vietnamese noblewoman.

"G..Gen-" Shinju tried to say, only for the tortoise to shush her before she could finish.

"I no longer carry that title. My true name is that of Tuyet Hoa Le," Tuyet, formerly known as Genbu, corrected.

"So does that mean..." Kokoro asked. Before her was the spirit of Seiryuu, now in his humanoid form and wearing an outfit that a Japanese emperor would wear.

"Yes, my true name is Ryuunosuke Konpeki," Ryuunosuke corrected for his summoner. "All of our apologies for not telling you this information sooner. We didn't know when it would be a good time to say such things..."

"As for me, I'm none other than Jun Baeg-Saeg," Jun, the former White Tiger of the West reintroduced himself. He was in a spiritual state of his humanoid form, but now donning an outfit of Korean kings.

"Lastly, I'm truly known as Xia Houzhu," The spirit of the former vermilion bird finished, giving a smile for once as her humanoid spiritual form now wore the clothes of a Chinese empress.

"So...What's going to happen to you guys now?" Mai asked, still pretty tearful.

"We're going to ascend to the heavenly plain, and await for the day for someone to take our former titles," Xia explained, seeming a bit uneasy.

"Simply put, our time here is done..." Jun finished for his ex-wife.

Everyone was a bit silent, uneasy for what this would bring. Especially for Mao, he was extremely quiet, knowing that he had just lost his real father before his very eyes.

Huang Long finally stepped forward, looking uneasy. "Now, before we all go...do any of you have final parting words?"

There was a moment of silence, before a voice spoke up.

"Actually..." The voice of Soruka spoke up, followed behind by Noruka.

"We actually have more of a request..." Noruka stated, even for someone like him being a bit uneasy, Huang Long looking at the two, ready to listen.

"What is your request?" Huang Long asked sternly to the two twin yokai.

"If mother and father and the others ascend to the heavenly plain after their physical forms perish..." Soruka began to speak, looking a bit uneasy. His poor heart couldn't seem to finish his statement, leaving Noruka to finish for him.

"We wanted to ask if we could...you know..." Noruka began, even him proving to have a hard time saying this. "...Join them..."

Huang Long, as well as everyone else was speechless on the matter. There was a great amount of silence before someone finally decided to speak up.

"Listen, we caused a lot of trouble, we can't let someone like Tamamo no Mae fuse us like that again," Noruka began to reason for the decision of him and his brother. "None of us are sure if we can handle taking on something like this for a third time...we barely made it out the second time!"

"That and mother and father, they've only reunited with us for a few brief moments..." Soruka added with his brother to reason. "After over six thousand years...we need to make up that time...It's been far too long..."

There was another break of silence after those words. While all was tragic and heartbreaking, it was one thing for sure. It was all true.

"...Is that what you both truly wish for?" Huang Long asked one last time. "Because, if this is granted, there is no turning back or reversing it..."

"Yes, it truly is," Noruka answered with honesty.

"Second to that," Soruka agreed with his brother, one of the few things the two could really agree upon.

With a deep sigh, Huang Long approached the twin yokai, holding out his mighty blade. Nobody dared to look, even Huang Long had trouble looking at the action he was about to commit with his two hands. The great dragon king gave a heavy sigh, tightly gripping around the handle of his sword.

Nobody dared to look at the action that was done. The only thing anyone else could hear was a fall to the floating island's ground, shortly followed by yet another fall.

Soon, the twin's physical form faded, as if they were never there. However, their spirits were there, being the same glowing form much like the other four former holy beasts.

Aside from being now more spiritual projections, they largely stayed the same, though now donned more regal clothing to match more in suit with their mother and father.

Without another word, the two walked up to their mother and father, seeming to be quite happy right now.

Especially that of Xia, her avian heart was filled with nothing but true, absolute joy...Her children wouldn't be separated from her anymore for all of time. Some birds leave the nest forever...but some come back it seems…

"So...I think it's now for us to go..." Huang Long began, everyone trying to dry up their tears, to give one last smile before their newly formed friends would ascend to the heavens.

"You take care of both these world's natural good, alright?" Tuyet asked to her friend.

"Count on me to make sure both worlds are still beautiful, maybe even more beautiful than before!" Shinju responded to the question, trying to give a happy nod despite her tears.

"It's impossible to learn everything, but try your best to keep learning what will better you and those you care about," Ryuunosuke stated sincerely. "And if you can, please take care of my daughter and grandson."

"Of course, I'll make sure I learn all kinds of new ways to fight for those I care about!" Kokoro thanked, despite being a bit choking on her tears.

"I'm afraid this is our final goodbye..." Mao began, being a bit quiet and distant. "I'd never thought I'd find my true family...only to not know them for so long..."

"Try to remember what the old tortise said, it's like we're all going on a long trip," Jun tried to reassure as best he could.

"One day we'll get to hang out more!" Noruka reassured to his half brother as well.

"I could use a brother quieter than Noruka...so I hope we can meet again in the future..." Soruka gave a legit smile for once, Mao feeling slightly easier, giving a quiet and genuine "Thank you" to his father and half brothers.

"We'll...We'll still be friends, right?" Mai asked, trying her best to stay positive.

"Absolutely, we'll be friends forever, Mai," Xia answered back with a genuine smile on her face.

A path in the heavens made itself clear to the spiritual yokai, the group starting to walk up to it. Everyone gave their heartfelt goodbyes, trying to stay happy despite the face they would be far apart.

It was bittersweet, but so was life at times.

As the heavenly light faded, the group of teens found themselves in front of the Dreamy Kingdom Castle, being fully in tact like nothing had happened earlier. The sun was shining brightly, the sky and land bellow now full of color, a crowd that had come back, all applauding and cheering in front of the group of six.

They must've thought the fight against Tamamo no Mae was a new show, or maybe they saw that Great King Enma of the Yokai World was among them, or perhaps a mix of both. Either way, everyone smiled and waved, giving a bow.

"Mai!" Nyanmajo cheered, her and Sailornyan running up to the blonde girl.

"You and your friends did it, and you're all in one piece too!" Sailornyan happily said, beyond relieved and happy to be in the arms of the girl once more.

"Yeah…! I didn't think it was entirely possible..." Mai responded happily, hugging her feline friends.

"Now...Let's spend the rest of this vacation...together!" Mai finished, the other five nodding and following the blonde around.

Peace had truly returned for the teens, and nothing like enjoying their time at a grand resort sounded like the perfect way to celebrate their grand victory.

A few weeks had passed since the human and yokai worlds were brought back to peace after a great crisis.

Mai had since returned to her normal life in Sakura New Town. She woke up, she went to school, she had meals with her family, she had some quiet time to herself, she hung out with her friends of both the human and spectral variety when she had the free time.

Despite everything she did, she was just a normal girl living a normal life.

Outside was a beautiful day, the sun shining and not being unbearably cold as it was the last few legs of winter. It was a Sunday, meaning Mai had the day off, but she had somewhere to be.

Despite that, she took a moment to stop and smell the roses by getting out a journal she had gotten in America. It was a bit simple, hard bound with faux leather, and had a few small stickers put on by Mai to make it a bit more interesting.

"Let's see...Where's the next page..." Mai began, thumbing for something, before audibly saying "aha!"

What she found was a colorfully tipped vermilion feather, the same feather Xia left behind when the two first met. It was kept delicately within a laminated pouch used for bookmarks. The blonde got out a cutesy little pen and began jotting things down.

 _February 16th_

 _Today is my birthday! I'm officially 16 years old! It felt for a while this day wouldn't come, but before I knew it, it was here! It's also my brother's birthday, but he has plans himself with his friends._

 _Hopefully my friends can find time today. I mean, Kokoro is a princess, Shinju probably has more training with Kaguyahime to do, Mao's probably dealing with his newly found yokai powers and moved to Sakura New Town to better understand them, Great King Enma is, well, the king of the Yokai World, and Kaira recently moved in with his biological father after reuniting._

 _As for me, I'm still me, my same ups and downs. While sometimes it's cooler my friends have all sorts of awesome powers and connections, I think I'm happy with just being me and being a normal girl at the end of the day._

 _Anyways, I have somewhere to be. I'll update you later!_

Mai finished writing in her journal, alongside a few small doodles of things like her friends and herself, though represented by small, cute animals along the way. She quickly closed the journal and started to head out.

"Alright so my friends said they would meet me at..." Mai began to think aloud to herself, looking through her phone to see the message her friends sent. Though, something else seemded to have caught Mai's curiosity at a playground at the nearby park.

"C'mon! Let's play Three Kingdoms!" A rather energetic voice said, coming from a young human boy with dark crimson hair. By his side was a similar looking but far more shy acting boy with jet black hair.

"But how do you play that, zura?" A small white dog yokai with blue, swirly eyebrows asked.

"Well..." The black haired boy began, one of the yokai nearby looking a bit bored as the boy tried to explain.

"Sounds...A bit too complicaited, nya," A red cat yokai responded, snacking at a chocobar.

"Hush, I'm trying to listen, dani!" A third yokai scolded, being that of a rabbit in a yellow spacesuit.

Mai decided it was best she didn't get involved, but something was oddly familiar about the sight. She smiled at the sight of humans and yokai getting along together harmoniously.

The blonde girl kept on going, before coming up to a small cafe, only to be loudly greeted by her friends.

"Happy Birthday, Mai!" Kokoro shouted, hugging the blonde girl.

"We made sure we didn't forget, or try to make you think we forgot, either!" Shinju added in, both with the words and the hugging of Mai.

"Ah goodness, you guys..." Mai responded with a smile and light blush on her cheeks.

"Also feel free to go nuts guys," Great King Enma in his human alias of Daitaro spoke up with a grin. "All of this is going to be on me."

Kaira looked off. "Of course it is...But I don't mind..."

"Are you sure?" Mao asked, Great King Enma giving a nod.

"I love you all so much..." Mai spoke up, her heart filled with a truly great amount of happiness and love. "Thank you...Thank you all so much for being not only a friend to me...but to eachother...It means the world..."

Soon enough, everyone sat down at a table and started talking with another and ordering their drinks and food. It was the start of what would be a fantastic day, and one to start a series of equally as blessed, peaceful days.

For now, threats to the yokai world had finally stopped, and peace and harmony was in hand and hand for both realms. Evil was far from the scope for the time being, and for now, everyone was here to enjoy themselves and have fun.

It be with other humans, yokai, or both. Both could be friends, and friends forever.


End file.
